By Jeffrey L. Baer, Esquire
Have you ever awakened on the wrong side of the bed? A few years ago, I “woke up” and realized I was – figuratively speaking – working the wrong side of the courtroom.
I enjoyed representing plaintiffs against insurance companies but felt there was something missing. So, when a position opened at Goldstein Law Group, I seized the opportunity to make my move.
Now, I’m working for the defense.
As Managing Partner Frank Goldstein always says, a good attorney knows to review each case from both sides. Having been a prosecutor gives me an advantage there. But what I’ve really mastered after five years at GLG is the art of the deposition. Here are some of my key strategies:
Obsessive Preparation: The secret to deposing witnesses is preparation. Be obsessive compulsive. Untangle every excuse. Leave no stone unturned. If you’re deposing a physician, don’t just Google the doc. Pull Department of Health records. Verify degrees. Research infractions. Discover every place the physician ever worked. We once deposed a clinic patient claimant. After pulling all clinic records, we learned she also was employed by the clinic and had multiple priors.
Social media: The Internet and social media open numerous avenues for discovery. You’d be surprised by the information and photos claimants post to Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram…never imagining these social media platforms provide us with valuable insight into their behavior and social patterns.
Collaboration and communication: Both are key factors that can make, or break, your case. Open communication with clients increases the likelihood of success, while collaboration within your own firm, as well as with others, helps eliminate surprises. Competing firms often share access to previous depos; collaboration with them just may reveal unexpected, relevant information. Relationships matter. Reciprocity is key to keeping communication going.
Mentoring is an important component for learning; don’t overlook its benefits. At GLG, Partners Frank and Brian have been both my formal and informal mentors. They and the firm’s seasoned attorneys are instrumental in helping me consider new angles or guiding me through unfamiliar processes. Now I in turn do the same. Once, when a new associate was preparing for a particularly difficult hearing, I reached out to the opposing counsel, with whom I had a relationship, and resolved the issue. It never went to court.
Preparation, collaboration, communication, social media, mentoring. These are strategies that enabled me to hone my abilities in the art of depositions. Perhaps they’ll be helpful for you as well.
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