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Hello. My name is Ty Wilson. And today we're talking about deposition preparation and some helpful information. And we're going to really cover today what you should not do if you're in a deposition. And we're going to start off by talking about answering the questions. You want to answer the questions that they ask, not the questions you think they want to know, the questions that they ask. And so what does that require? Well, that requires that you listen completely and attentively to the person who's asking the questions, which is going to be the opposing attorney. You want to listen, understand what they're saying. And if you don't understand, you want to ask. I'm sorry, I don't understand your question. Can you rephrase it? They will happily rephrase it. If they cannot rephrase it appropriately even your counsel may step in, as I've done in several cases. And so I think what they're asking you is to get clarification.
The most important thing is that you understand what it is that you are asking under oath prior to the deposition, you're going to be sworn under oath. Everything you say will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. And so that is something that is very important. It's very critical. And so you do not want to guess. You do not want to mislead. You do not want to lie, you want to be Truthful. And you want to get through the deposition as quickly as possible.
Some other notes that we've made is, you don't want to talk endlessly. So when they ask you a question, you want to answer that question and answer that question only. You don't want to dance around it. If they say, Tell us where you live. “123 Main street, Nowheresville, Georgia. 3000. Not the address. It's a Ranch style house, all brick all around. I've got a little Creek that runs in the backyard. Our neighbors are really great in that neighborhood.” No, answer the question, the question only. If they ask you where you live. The better answer actually is Nowheresville. Georgia, what is your address? Make them ask you the specifics that they're looking for. If they don't, that's on them. That's not on you. Don't volunteer. You're there because you're required to be there. You're not there because that other attorney is your buddy. They have something they're doing, and they're requiring in order for you to obtain some form of benefit, whether it's medical benefits or income benefits. And they are the ones who are in charge of helping guide the person who makes the decision as to whether or not you get that. So they're not your buddies at the same time this is not a yelling argument type situation. This is not what you see on TV. It's a question and answer session, and it should be. And it is usually very simple. And so you just want to get in there, answer the questions and get out.
Now, a lot of times we get questions about “What can they ask?” Well, arguably, anything that's relevant they can ask. And so arguably, that's anything under the sun. Certainly it's within a certain degree of measure. That's why you have an attorney there. That attorney is listening to the questions. I know. I've sat through thousands and thousands of depositions. Your attorney is likely sat through several. I doubt it would be their first deposition. They're listening to the questions. They're listening. If it's proper, if it's not, can we move on? Can we go off the record? They'll handle that. That's why you brought them on board.
So let's move on. Doing a deposition. I guess that brings up a great point. And doing a deposition without an attorney is probably not a good call. You don't know what you're required to answer and what you're not. That attorney will be in there to protect. You will be in there to say, “okay, let's move on. Hey, this is not relevant. This is why it's not relevant.” And if you go into a deposition not knowing the rules of evidence, not knowing what they can or cannot ask, chances are you're going to answer those questions or you're going to answer nothing. The deposition will take forever. You'll get a conference call with the judge, possibly a motion to compel and several other things. So it's critical that you, at least if you're going to be going through a deposition, have an attorney there to sit in and help at least protect your interest.