My ex's lawyer says it is the responsibility of my lawyer to schedule depositions with my expert witnesses. Is this true?
2007-10-22 05:00:02 · 3 answers · asked by Anonymous in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
Yes, it is your responsibility to depose your expert witness if you want to get his deposition testimony on the record. You can also call him live at trial and avoid deposing him. Generally, opposing counsel will depose the other side's experts to "lock in" their testimony and get a preview of what will be testified to at trial by the expert. Depositions are a great chance for opposing counsel to refute the expert's credentials.
Your ex's lawyer is probably telling you this to make you pay for the deposition. In any event, you will have to pay your expert any fees that your expert requests for testifying at both deposition and trial.
2007-10-22 05:37:55 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is the responsibility of the party who wants the deposition to schedule the deposition.
You, presumably, have access to your expert witness whenever you need answers -- so there is very little reason for you to take a deposition of your own expert.
If the other side wants to depose your expert -- the burden is on them. However, as a courtesy, the other side may ask your attorney to do the scheduling -- so that your attorney can be present.
The alternative is that the other side picks a date -- and your side may or may not find that date convenient -- and the process repeats until an agreement on a date is reached -- often taking far much more time than just having your side pick a date first.
2007-10-22 07:00:14 · answer #2 · answered by coragryph 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Whichever lawyer wants to ask the questions needs to set the time/date/place and send everyone else a Subpoena requiring them to attend.
2007-10-22 05:04:17 · answer #3 · answered by open4one 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋