Litigating in the Virtual World: Passing Fad or Wave of the Future?
Sitting with the C-Suite: The New Normal - Embracing Remote Technology
VIRTUAL ADR UPDATE – TECHNOLOGY, CYBERSECURITY AND UNIQUE ISSUES PRESENTED BY HON. JOHN P. DIBLASI
Sitting with the C-Suite: COVID 19 Impact – Four Sectors of Change for the Legal Industry
The apex deposition doctrine is a judge-made rule that protects company executives from harassing, repetitive depositions in cases in which the executive has little relevant evidence to provide. Courts applying the doctrine...more
Revised Minnesota pretrial discovery rules, which took effect Jan. 1, now encourage remote depositions by allowing them to be set by notice alone. Former practice required either a court order or stipulation....more
The devastating wildfires that raced through southern California these past few weeks caused loss of life, property damage in the billions of dollars, and upheaval in the lives of millions of Americans who live in that...more
It’s a common practice during a deposition for lawyers to assert legal objections to witness testimony but then allow the deposition to proceed. In fact, this practice is broadly encouraged. Depositions are wide-ranging...more
The Washington Supreme Court recently approved significant revisions to that state’s procedural rules on remote depositions. Revised Rule 30 of the Washington Civil Rules will now allow remote depositions to be noticed...more
Are personal injury plaintiffs legally required to testify at their trials? Actually, not. Under the right circumstances, deposition testimony can be used in lieu of live trial testimony if the trial court finds that the...more
To their credit, experienced litigators are able to resolve the vast majority of pretrial discovery disputes without the need for court intervention. This is particularly true when the dispute in question is whether a...more
With the COVID pandemic, remote video depositions and trial testimony very quickly went from rare to routine. Remote testimony, for the most part, is viewed as a convenience to both witnesses and attorneys, and parties and...more
Though typically conducted in a conference room, a deposition can take place in many locations and through a variety of methods. So long as you capture a verbatim record, either face-to-face or remotely through the use of...more
As litigators know, the United States follows the so-called “American Rule” when apportioning the costs of litigation. Unless a statute specifically provides otherwise, parties in court are responsible for their own...more
Way back in April 2020, during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, a federal magistrate judge in Colorado had already seen enough to offer the following plea that lawyers reassess their habit of traveling long distances...more
“He’s going to tell the truth. The truth is very, you know, complicated. So we went over it carefully, and just not to leave anything up to chance . . . . or Michael’s judgment.” Fans of the NBC sitcom, the Office, might...more
Reasonable expenses for an expert witness deposition surely include the expert’s travel time, airfare and hotel accommodations. Right? It’s true that litigators are free to make their own financial arrangements regarding the...more
The international law firm McGuire Woods recently published a news note, Virginia Court Holds School Board Immune From Virginia Human Rights Act Claims, explaining how a local school board successfully raised a sovereign...more
No other pretrial discovery process rivals the deposition for its ability to alter the course of civil litigation. Depositions alone bring litigators face-to-face with key witnesses, experts, and the parties themselves in a...more
There are four main ways to conduct a pretrial deposition in modern law practice: the deposition by written question, the in-person deposition, the remote deposition, and the hybrid deposition. Each has its strengths and...more
When the COVID-19 pandemic struck in 2020, experienced litigators quickly discovered that they would have to adapt and learn to thrive in a new adversarial arena — the computer monitor. And adapt they did....more
Yes absolutely, but with one caveat. Counsel should not overlook the requirement to carefully document the necessity of any costs claimed to be taxable. This includes costs for videotape copies of depositions....more
In the early, heady days of the commercial internet, legal scholars David Johnson and David Post wrote, “because events on the Net occur everywhere but nowhere in particular … no physical jurisdiction has a more compelling...more
Until very recently, the rule in many jurisdictions was that any individual could attend a deposition unless the trial court ordered otherwise. Some litigators brought expert witnesses to the deposition of the opposing...more
Palau is an island archipelago in the Pacific Ocean. The local economy depends on tourism, mainly from visitors interested in snorkeling and scuba diving along its beautiful barrier reefs. Tourism aside, the Palau economy is...more
We recently blogged about a case in which a court ruled that a subpoena for a remote deposition did not violate Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 45(c)’s 100-mile limit on subpoenas for non-party witnesses because the deponent...more
The rise of remote proceedings in response to the COVID-19 pandemic has led federal courts to consider novel issues involving the subpoena of individuals for remotely held depositions and hearings. Last year, three federal...more
Much undoubtedly changed in the world of pandemic litigation. From remote proceedings to Zoom depositions to mediation by virtual breakout room, we have grown accustomed to litigation from the living room. But to be...more
A prior post looked at two recent trial court rulings involving claims that witness coaching had occurred during a remote deposition, making the point that litigators can protect their clients against witness coaching by...more