47. Beginning the Effective Deposition, with Carl Chamberlin

At a time when more cases settle than go to trial, the deposition has become of utmost significance. Our guest Carl Chamberlin draws upon his experience taking and defending depositions in private practice as well as teaching deposition skills for 30 years. As the new author of The Effective Deposition, the topic is top of mind lately for Carl, so he joins us to talk about how to kick off a truly effective deposition with introductory matters and preliminary and substantive questioning techniques—and he even asks a few questions of his own. Topics3:22   The purpose of depositions6:20   Difference between gathering information and obtaining information10:38 Why depositions are important12:30 Physical settings for remote depositions14:15 The “usual stipulations”17:20 Getting commitments21:27 Commitments in remote depositions24:42 Preliminary questions29:51 Structure of substantive questioning33:30 First demo36:57 Key phrases for asking open-ended questions38:25 And ones to avoid43:01 Drilling down into a substantive topic44:18 Second demo1:04:19 Paying attention and listening1:06:40 Using exhibits1:10:15 Dealing with interruptions1:13:56 Carl’s early depositions1:16:53 The Effective Deposition1:21:36 Signoff questions Quote“We want to make our questions clear and concise. Simple. The clearer the question, the better the answer. The fewer the objections, the more powerful it is.” Carl Chamberlin ResourcesCarl Chamberlin (LinkedIn)NITA Publications (book)