The Deposition Handbook
Widely regarded as the definitive text on taking and defending depositions, the Deposition Handbook provides practical advice on every stage of deposition. In this revised Fifth Edition, Dennis Suplee and Nicole Reimann provide specific techniques for eliciting information, guidelines for video depositions, case studies, checklists, numerous examples, rules of conduct, and sample questions. This user-friendly and comprehensive guide offers expert analysis on the strategies and tactics you need to successfully handle your depositions.
You’ll get specific examples and scenarios covering:
- Whether counsel may interview an adverse party's current or former employees
- Private conferences between the deponent and counsel during the course of the deposition
- The pros and cons of “the usual stipulations”
- Questioning techniques
- How to effectively prepare your clients and witnesses to effectively testify
- What factors to consider when deciding whether to prepare the witness to do more than just answer the question
Written from a litigator's perspective, this text delivers insights into how you can obtain case winning answers from your deponents.
This book should be required reading for every young lawyer, and is a great resource for even the most experienced of litigators. If you are looking for a comprehensive desk reference for your office, this book is a treasure of information.
What Legal Leaders Are Saying
— David Markowitz, Trial Lawyer and Trial Guides authorThere is only one Best Deposition Book in America and this is it. It contains hundreds of practical tips for improving skills for taking and defending depositions, and it discusses the important rules and case law that govern deposition practice. Buy this book: Read this book: Use this book.
— Greg Joseph, past president of the American College of Trial Lawyers, past chair of the ABA Section of Litigation, and a nationally recognized expert on practice and procedureThe premier guide to deposition practice, bar none.
— Bob Weber, former general counsel for IBM and litigator at Jones DayThis is the book I wish I had written. It is filled with wisdom, practical advice and common sense. And, most rare for a legal text, it is a pleasure to read. It belongs on every litigator’s bookshelf, to be consulted frequently.
— Joan Lukey, fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, and the American College of Trial LawyersAn extremely useful handbook, replete with hundreds of real-world examples, illustrating questioning techniques designed to achieve your deposition objectives, plus sound advice on the daunting task of preparing the witness to testify.
— Steve M. Shepard, partner at Susman Godfrey, former law clerk to the Honorable Anthony M. Kennedy on the Supreme Court of the United StatesThe Deposition Handbook is now the most sought-after volume in our NY office. The associates refer to it as the “deposition bible” and routinely borrow it. We have office-wide emails asking, “Who has the deposition bible?”