California Wrongful Death Case - Discovery; Depositions
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GENERAL
You should not make notes to refresh your recollection and you certainly should not bring any notes or other documents with you to the deposition (unless we have specifically instructed you to do so by your attorney). The reason for this is that opposing counsel will probably ask you if you have reviewed any notes or other documents to help you refresh your recollection for purposes of taking the deposition. If your answer is "yes" they are entitled to, then and there, require that you produce all notes or other written documents that you reviewed in preparation for the deposition. Quite frequently, in reviewing such notes or documents, inadvertent facts are disclosed to the other side.
However, in reviewing this letter several times before the deposition you are not "refreshing your recollection for purposes of taking the deposition" since this letter has nothing to do with refreshing recollection but rather directly advising you of what will be involved in a deposition. Accordingly, the production of this letter could not be required by the attorney.
Don't try to memorize every aspect of our discussion of what you should expect in a deposition. The following discussion is intended only as a general guide as to what you may expect during the deposition in a wrongful death case. Some attorneys will only spend a couple of minutes before the deposition talking with their clients on the theory that a lengthy explanation such as I have just given will only serve to confuse and frighten the client.
ATTENDING YOUR DEPOSITION
Don't loose a lot of sleep the night before your deposition. Depositions normally take place in the office of the attorney of either the Plaintiff or Defendant. In some cases they take place in the court reporter's office.
You will normally be sitting around a conference table. Both attorneys are present (and additional attorneys if there is more than two sides to the case). A court reporter will be present. The court reporter has a machine that assists her in taking down everything that is said by the parties.
The attorney asking the questions will normally begin as follows: