Why you should attend
With fewer cases reaching juries, deposition testimony has become a substitute for trial testimony. Skilled litigators know how to take advantage of this unique opportunity to gather information, learn about an adversary’s case, and get a close-up look at the performance of potential witnesses. Learn how to maximize this chance to gain an advantage for a future settlement or litigation.
Our faculty of experienced litigators will take you through every facet of the deposition process, starting with general strategic principles and moving through the use of deposition testimony at trial. We’ll also use demonstrations to illustrate the dos and don’ts of depositions, give you practice tips for each stage of the process, and show the tactical and strategic considerations behind the techniques employed.
What you will learn
- Deposition strategy and purpose: deciding where each deposition fits into your overall discovery plan
- Doing your homework to prepare for a deposition
- Nuts and bolts of taking a deposition, including stipulations, objections, and use of exhibits
- Dealing with a difficult adversary
- Defending the deposition: objections, instructing the witness, and going off the record
- Expert witnesses and what you need to know
- Using deposition testimony at trial: rules, techniques, and tactical concerns
- Ethical issues unique to depositions: how to handle the situations that can arise
Who should attend
This program will give litigators the skills to prepare, execute, and use depositions in the most effective manner for their clients and their cases.
Please plan to arrive with enough time to register before the conference begins. A networking breakfast will be available upon your arrival.
Morning Session: 9:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
9:00 Opening Remarks and Introduction
Seth A. Gastwirth
9:15 Deposition Strategy and Taking the Deposition Deposition Strategy
- Setting the stage for the deposition
- How depositions fit into your overall case strategy
- The purpose of the deposition
- Choosing who to depose and when to depose them
- When to avoid taking a deposition
- Anatomy of a deposition
- Practice Tip: Atmospheric aspects of deposition preparation
Taking the Deposition
- Preparation and outline
- Setting goals and objections
- Ground rules
- Background information
- Structure and pacing of the deposition
- Follow-up and conclusory questions
- Differences in state and federal practice
- Practice Tip: Handling difficult witnesses
Melissa M. Hinds, Mark G. Kaminski
11:00 Networking Break
11:15 Preparing the Witness and Defending the Deposition
- Important general education for your witness
- Preparing a 30(b)(6) witness
- Working with in-house counsel to prepare the witness
- Objections - what are they? When should you make them?
- Dealing with difficult adversaries
- Dealing with difficult witnesses
- “Cross” examination of your own witness and when to conduct it
- Practice Tip: Preparing a witness for a videotaped deposition
Seth A. Gastwirth, Frederick V. Lochbihler
12:30 Lunch
Afternoon Session: 1:45 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
1:45 Expert Depositions
- How experts are different from fact witnesses
- Researching expert witnesses
- Using expert reports and preparing to take an expert deposition
- Eliciting an expert’s opinion
- Cross-examining an expert witness before trial
- Pitfalls of using your client as an “expert”
- Daubert considerations
- Practice Tip: Helping the expert prepare to be deposed
Wendy Netter Epstein, John I. Salomon, Jeffrey S. Torosian
2:45
Using the Deposition on Summary Judgment and at Trial
- Depositions in trial prep: designations, direct, cross
- When can you use a deposition at trial?
- Effective use of deposition excerpts at trial
- Practice Tip: Using depositions in summary judgment papers
Jason L. Peltz, William T. Pruitt, Andrew W. Worseck
3:45
Networking Break
4:00
Ethical Dilemmas Arising With Deposition
- The attorney-client privilege and work-product doctrine
- Protecting your witness and staying within ethical boundaries
- Improper/proper use of objections
- Conferring with witnesses during a deposition
- Remedial measures
- Practice Tip: What to do if you suspect your client is lying
John F. Grady, Timothy A. Hudson
5:00
Adjourn
Chairperson(s)
Speaker(s)
Wendy Netter Epstein ~ Visiting Assistant Professor of Law, Chicago-Kent College of Law, Kirkland & Ellis LLP
Mark G. Kaminski ~ Assistant Unit Supervisior, Office of the Attoney General of Illinois
Program Attorney(s)
Chicago Seminar Location
University of Chicago Gleacher Center, 450 N. Cityfront Plaza Drive, Chicago, Il 60611. (312) 464-8787.
Chicago Hotel Accommodations
Intercontinental Hotel Chicago, 505 North Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL 60611. 800-628-2112. Please contact directly in order to receive the preferred rate. When calling, please mention PLI and the name of the program you are attending.
Sheraton Chicago Hotel & Towers, 301 E. North Water Street, Chicago, IL 60611. (312) 464-1000.
PLI's live programs are approved in all states that require mandatory continuing legal education for attorneys, except Arizona. Please be sure to check with your state for details.
Please check the CLE Calculator above each product description for CLE information specific to your state.
Special Note: In New York, newly admitted attorneys may receive CLE credit only for attendance at "transitional" programs during their first two years of admission to the Bar. Non-traditional course formats such as on-demand web programs or recorded items, are not acceptable for CLE credit. Experienced attorneys may choose to attend and receive CLE credit for either a transitional course or for one geared to experienced attorneys. All product types, including on-demand web programs and recorded items, are approved for experienced attorneys.
Please note: The State Bar of Arizona does not approve or accredit CLE activities for the Mandatory Continuing Legal Education requirement.
If you have already received credit for attending some or the entire program, please be aware that state administrators do not permit you to accrue additional credit for repeat viewing even if an additional credit certificate is subsequently issued.
Credit will be granted only to the individual on record as the purchaser unless alternative arrangements (prearranged groupcast) are made in advance.