Posted: 7/25/2006 7:22:15 AM EDT
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I am waiting in my office to give a deposition to the US Attn. about a job I worked on three years ago. I have been waiting since 0800 this moring. Yeahhh. This suck Anyone else have to give one? |
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Yes. It's terrible. The worst part is when they ask questions that are so vague and oddly-worded that you don't have any idea how to answer. To wit: Lawyer: "Mr. DzlBenz, according to your recollection of the events between June 2000 and August 2000 relative to the subject at hand, and with respect to the events before and after those dates, would you describe the nature of the realtionship of the parties as either more or less amicable, keeping in mind that an adversarial relationship had already been established and is documented in fact?" DzlBenz: 
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I had to give one once. They didn't hear what they wanted to, and were technically unable to ask intelligent questions. Depos are a pain in the ass, as they can ask you anything and you must answer - even if it is an obvious improper question. All your attorney can do is object. They just strike it later, however in the meantime they have info to use against you. Good luck. |
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If the time on your subpoena was for some time around 8AM and your still waiting, tell them you are going to leave and they can subpoena you again. There's nothing about a subpoena that says your a hostage to be held indefinitely. You lived up to you obligation by showing up on the date and time posted on the subpoena. |
No subpoena. It's at the request of our client's attorney. I am on their dime for most of this. Of course not my time on arfcom. |
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One of the single most stressful situations I have ever experienced in my life was a deposition I got subpoenaed to give in a federal lawsuit in Boston. It was held in the penthouse of "One Boston Plaza" or something like that. The law firm took up several floors, including the top one. The lawyer raking me over the coals was named Jim Renquist. Yup, his dad was CJ SCOTUS. This is high powered shit, and I was right in the middle of it. A little background - I used to work field service for MANUFACTURER who liked to rubber stamp all their service documentation "Double Secret Proprietary Owned by MANUFACTURER." Of course, every time someone got an offer from a third party service co. all the docs took a trip through the copier. You couldn't fix the machines without it. MANUFACTURER decided to squash the competition by suing third party service cos. as well as individual service guys in federal court, a la RIAA. Before I walk into the depo, MYCOMPANY lawyer pulls me aside to let me know that he is not my lawyer and I should probably go get one at my own expense. It's too late now so I walk into the Lion's Den. I was there as a witness, not a party to the lawsuit. Or so I thought. Within a few questions I realize that even though MYCOMPANY freely distributed the Double Secret Documents to all employees, their defense is "Hey, we never saw those before. JavaMan must have copied and handed them out." Fucking pricks are throwing me to the wolves! I hit full-on Panic Mode so I ask for a bathroom break and leave the office to compose myself. And that's when I come up with an all or nothing plan. The depo continues: "JavaMan, do you currently have any copies of the Double Secret Documents?" "Yes I do. I've got boxes full of that stuff. In fact I brought it all with me in the trunk of my car. Would you like me to go get it and bring it up here for you?" MYCOMPANY lawyer is having a coronary, jumping up and down, foaming at the mouth, screaming objections, demanding to talk to me. He comes in close barking orders at me about my testimony. I put my hand on his chest and shove him away. "Hey, pal, don't tell me what to say. You're not my fucking lawyer. You told me so out there in the hallway. So while I'm talking you sit there and shut the fuck up. I'll go get the books now." You see, after MANUFACTURER, I went to work for OTHERCOMPANY. My supervisor there, EXCOWORKER, was also an ex-MANUFACTURER employee who had a ton of the Double Secret Documents. He brought them into the OTHERCOMPANY office and used the copy machines and secretaries to duplicate an entire set of the Double Secret Documents and collate them into nice, neat binders for each employee. Some pages even had his name on them. After OTHERCOMPANY went bankrupt, EXCOWORKER had enough of third party service and went back to work for MANUFACTURER. EXCOWORKER was also a giant asshole who fucked with me on a daily basis. My trap was set, and revenge was going to be sweet. "So, JavaMan, you received all this Double Secret Documentation from MYCOMPANY?" "Oh, no. I never received any Double Secret Documents from MYCOMPANY. This all came from OTHERCOMPANY. My supervisor brought it in and made several copies for everybody in the office. Whenever they hired a new service guy, the supervisor would make another copy." "Didn't you think it was illegal to make copies of the Double Secret Documents?" "I wouldn't know. I never made any copies personally. When you work for a company and your boss gives you supplies to do your job, you take them and do your work." "You know they must belong to somebody. Why didn't you return these books when you left OTHERCOMPANY?" "Because they just closed their doors one day and left us all out in the cold. I still have their tool case and oscilloscope. And they still own me salary that they never paid. We all just went our seperate ways and found other jobs. If you want to talk to the guy who made all these copies, why don't you ask him yourself? His name is EXCOWORKER, and as a funny coincidence he is now working back for MANUFACTURER in your Dallas office. I'm sure he'll be better able to elaborate on why he was making and distributing dozens of copies of your Double Secret Documents. See, these are his, he even wrote his name in these books before he copied them." Absolute dead silence.  MYCOMPANY lawyer is still getting over his coronary, and is trying to figure out if I hurt him or helped him. Renquist is sitting there in stunned silence, not quite sure what to do next. But at least I wiped that smug look off his fucking face. "So, is there anything else?" In a meager voice, Renquist says "No more questions." MYCOMPANY lawyer says "No, no questions." "Ok, fine. Is it ok if I leave those Double Secret books with you? If they're illegal then I sure don't want to have them. Besides, you'll probably need them when you talk to EXCOWORKER." And I left. I spent the rest of the day in Downtown Boston. The aquarium was nice. On my flight home I got a free upgrade to First Class. Later that year the MYCOMPANY pricks got fucked by MANUFACTURER for Double Secret Documents that other employees had and got sued into bankruptcy. And I heard from friends in Dallas that EXCOWORKER also got fucked hard by MANUFACTURER, lost his house in foreclosure and had his new truck repoed after he lost his job, his wife left him, and ended up moving back to live with his parents in some south Texas shithole town. And I never heard another thing about this affair. 
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the US attorney does NOT take civil depositions unless the US gov't has assumed the plaintiffs case in a discrimination case. if you are not involved in a civil discrimination case, then DON"T GO as it sounds like a federal criminal investigation where there are no depos. I hope you have counsel. |
| It wasn't a bad as I thought it would be. They finally did mine at 1500. The attns (all 7 seven including the guys on the phone) looked like they were ready to leave when I spoke to them. I just had to tell them what we did and answer some questions that seemed stupid. I felt like he was leading me a few times but I wasn't following him until I had a good idea were he was taking me. I told him several time I wasn't sure what he was asking when he appeared to be putting words in my mouth. He seemed nervous and had a hard time maintaining eye contact. |