I had a horrifying experience at the hands of doctors and staff at a
hospital recently and my attorney tells me I have a good case. I have
never sued anyone before and I am very fearful that my entire life will
be opened up for scrutiny and perhaps ridicule, that the defendants
will be able to ask questions about things that are deeply personal to
me which have nothing to do with the condition that brought me to the
hospital or the care I received there. Anyone in this group ever
testify as a plaintiff in this type of case? I'd like to know what the
experience is like, and whether it is as terrible as I imagine. Thanks.

Fri, 11 Nov 2005 13:51:58 -0500 from <Lesley547@hotmail.com>: I had a horrifying experience at the hands of doctors and staff at a hospital recently and my attorney tells me I have a good case. I have never sued anyone before and I am very fearful that my entire life will be opened up for scrutiny and perhaps ridicule,

These are concerns you should MUCH better discuss with your own
attorney, who is familiar with the case and the likely tactics of the
defense counsel.

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I am not a lawyer; this is not legal advice. When you read anything
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particular circumstances. You may also need to consult a lawyer.

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Lesley547@hotmail.com wrote:

[scared of being deposed]

Anyone in this group ever testify as a plaintiff in this type of case? I'd like to know what the experience is like, and whether it is as terrible as I imagine. Thanks.

You need to speak to your attorney about your fears. You are paying this
guy to take your case, but come to the Usenet to air your fears. Seems
wrong to me.

Your attorney will shield you somewhat from excessively probing
questions, but you will have to expect some fishing on the part of the
other side. Part of what the other side will do is test to see how well
you hold up under questioning - as a dry run for a possible court trial.

Here is a tip: pause before answering anything (I do this when in court
or when being deposed). Do NOT NOT NOT allow yourself to be rushed into
an answer or worse, a series of rapid fire question / answers. Also feel
free to say you wish to take a break or confer with your attorney at ANY
time during the process.

You must answer the questions posed, but you aren't held to keeping up
the pace the other side may try to set.

-paul
ianal

Lesley547@hotmail.com wrote: I had a horrifying experience at the hands of doctors and staff at a hospital recently and my attorney tells me I have a good case. I have never sued anyone before and I am very fearful that my entire life will be opened up for scrutiny and perhaps ridicule, that the defendants will be able to ask questions about things that are deeply personal to me which have nothing to do with the condition that brought me to the hospital or the care I received there. Anyone in this group ever testify as a plaintiff in this type of case? I'd like to know what the experience is like, and whether it is as terrible as I imagine. Thanks.

These are absolutely issues you should be discussing with your
attorney and not with strangers on the Net. Any competent attorney
holds a meeting with his client before the deposition to go over these
matters, to review the facts of the matter with you and prepare you for
the expected questions from the other side, and to answer any other
concerns you may have. Please put your trust in your attorney, or
he/she is not going to be able to do very much for you if you keep
second-guessing your attorney's advice. Good luck,

--
This posting is for discussion purposes, not professional advice.
Anything you post on this Newsgroup is public information.
I am not your lawyer, and you are not my client in any specific legal
matter.
For confidential professional advice, consult your own lawyer in a
private communication.
Mike Jacobs
LAW OFFICE OF W. MICHAEL JACOBS
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(tel) 410-740-5685 (fax) 410-740-4300

Lesley547@hotmail.com wrote: I had a horrifying experience at the hands of doctors and staff at a hospital recently and my attorney tells me I have a good case. I have never sued anyone before and I am very fearful that my entire life will be opened up for scrutiny and perhaps ridicule, that the defendants will be able to ask questions about things that are deeply personal to me which have nothing to do with the condition that brought me to the hospital or the care I received there. Anyone in this group ever testify as a plaintiff in this type of case? I'd like to know what the experience is like, and whether it is as terrible as I imagine. Thanks.

You have invoked a court of law to publicly accuse a hospital of
injuring you, which could lead to a judgment for money damages. The
hospital is entitled to defend itself from your accusations. Your
deposition is one of the most important methods it has to scrutinize
your allegations in minute detail, test your credibility, and gauge
your believability as a witness. If the defense has good lawyers, and
if this is a medical malpractice case, they will not hesitate to ask
you extremely personal questions about your entire medical history and
background. They will attack and challenge each of the things you
accuse the hospital of doing. They will ask you questions you would
frankly prefer not to answer. But you will have to answer them because
you invited this process by filing a lawsuit. Rest assured that the
other side has to go through the same thing, including the doctors and
staff who you believe injured you.

Paul Cassel <pcasselplus2@comcast.net> wrote:Here is a tip: pause before answering anything (I do this when in courtor when being deposed). Do NOT NOT NOT allow yourself to be rushed intoan answer or worse, a series of rapid fire question / answers. Also feelfree to say you wish to take a break or confer with your attorney at ANYtime during the process.

Good advice. I've heard of people who put a watch in front of them
and paused for 10 seconds before answering each question. It keeps
the other side from establishing any momentum and gives your attorney
a chance to object if there's something wrong with the question. It
also keeps the opposition from gaining any info from how long it takes
you to answer the question.

I suppose at some point the opposition might ask a court to sanction
you for being intentionally dilatory, say if you paused for a five
minutes before each answer. But 10 seconds seems reasonable. And it
gives you time to think about your answer. Same principle as in
bridge: figure out your strategy before you pull the first card from
dummy to the opening lead. That way the opponents won't gain any
information from you pausing when something happens -- you should have
already planned out what you will do in any sequence that may arise.

It may also be useful to take a couple of minutes from time to time to
"confer with your attorney". Even if you have nothing real to say, it
keeps the opposition from knowing they're getting to something
important when you stop the proceedings to confer with counsel.

Don't overdo it, of course. After all, your lawyer is also burning
_his_ valuable time while this goes on. But if he thinks you're
wasting too much time, he'll tell you. Take your attorney's advice.
That's probably the most important advice anybody can give you.

This is for discussion purposes only, and is not legal advice. I'm
not a lawyer. If you want legal advice, hire a lawyer.
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