The difference between a large personal injury verdict and a bad result at trial often hinges on your client’s performance under oath. For a referring attorney, your client’s deposition represents far more than just a legal formality. Your client’s deposition is the moment that locks in or devalues the full worth of the claim. As such, knowing how to prepare a client for a deposition as an attorney in Georgia is the difference between a high-value settlement and a devalued claim riddled with preventable “unforced errors.” So you should never leave your settlement up to chance.
At Schneider Williamson, our referral partners trust us because we approach deposition preparation as a meticulous, high-stakes defense against the tactics and tricks lawyers use in depositions to dismantle case credibility. Our success in securing six, seven, and eight-figure results for clients across the state is built on comprehensive deposition preparation for clients that guards against the common pitfalls most attorneys overlook. We ensure your client’s testimony is a clear, compelling asset and not a liability, safeguarding the true value of the case and securing the best possible outcome for your client and your firm.
If you are a busy attorney seeking specialized insight into how to prepare a client for a deposition and ensure the integrity of their case, we are more than happy to provide these deposition preparation tips that maximize settlement value in the next installment of our “The Lawyers Toolbox” series!
How to Prepare a Client for a Personal Injury Deposition as an Attorney in Georgia
It’s important to understand that deposition preparation for your clients is the foundation of success, so it is not something you can take lightly. Here is how to prepare your client for a personal injury deposition as an attorney with five expert tips:
- Understanding What a Deposition Is (and Isn’t)
- Mastering Succinct Answers and the “Answer and Stop” Rule
- Do Not Speculate
- The Discovery Imperative
- Mental Preparation and Fighting the “I Don’t Recall” Panic
Related Article: How We Proved an Invisible Injury and Secured a $1,750,000 Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Settlement for Our Client in Georgia
1. Understanding What a Deposition Is (and Isn’t)
The number one error we often see clients make stems from a fundamental misunderstanding of what a deposition is and, just as importantly, what a deposition isn’t. The reality is that many clients have misconceptions that can lead to misguided and damaging answers.
Clients often view it as a moment of catharsis in which they finally confront the defendant or unload their suffering. Defense attorneys know this and will use a friendly, conversational approach to encourage the client to talk freely. Your job is to rein them in.
As such, the first step in personal injury deposition preparation for your clients is to counter this approach with aggressive prep, making it clear that a deposition is a recorded, adversarial process. It is an interrogation, and it is going to be recorded.
“It’s important that clients understand exactly what a deposition is and that defense lawyers have a playbook where they defeat or decrease the value of claims using certain tactics. The number one way is by exploiting client misunderstanding of the process itself,” explained Jason Schneider, Partner and co-founder of Schneider Williamson.
Your client’s primary goal is to simply provide truthful, accurate, and narrow answers. This is the bedrock of any successful deposition preparation for clients.
Related Article: Why Use a Legal Focus Group in Personal Injury Law | We Can Help!
2. Mastering Succinct Answers and the “Answer and Stop” Rule
Defense counsel often asks broad, open-ended questions to create room for voluntary, case-destroying information.
A client who offers unnecessary detail about their past injuries, a casual mention of unrelated strenuous activity, or even a detailed narrative of their day prior to a car accident hands the defense new avenues for attack, creating unnecessary vulnerabilities and risk for their case.
“A deposition is not a conversation. It is an interrogation. The client’s only job is to answer questions truthfully and succinctly. If they are talking more than is necessary, they are volunteering information that will harm their case. Defense lawyers are very good at disarming clients, making conversation, and giving the impression that they’re just there for information. Your job is to ensure your client understands that, despite whatever their initial impression may be, this is not the case. Their only job is to answer questions truthfully and succinctly,” said Campbell Williamson, Partner and co-founder at Schneider Williamson.
Here is a personal injury deposition tip for coaching clients on the importance of succinct answers. If asked, “How did the accident happen?” in a rear-end collision, the client should answer, “I was stopped at the red light and somebody ran into me.” The answer should not provide more than this essential information. The answer should not be, “ I was going to the store because we always do our grocery shopping on Sundays, and then I decided to go and pick up my cousin to watch the game, and first we stopped at my friend’s house.…”
Another very important tip, both Schneider and Campbell referenced, was highlighting the difference between active and passive voice. A client should never say, for example, “My lawyer sent me to this doctor.” Instead, they should say, “I knew I needed more care, so I asked my attorneys for a recommendation because I value their advice.. They gave me some ideas, and I chose a doctor who was convenient to me.” This demonstrates personal agency instead of “lawyer-driven litigation.”
Schneider added he tells his clients, “to think of a crossing guard. Answer the question and stop – that should be their mantra. They have the right to pause and collect their thoughts. It’s like in football – you don’t want the opposition to dictate the pace of the game. You should be empowering your client to do that.”
Expert Prep: We often use a role-playing session to practice. A client describing a simple rear-end accident by revealing extraneous facts can turn a clean liability case into a defensible one. This is especially important for understanding how to prepare for a car accident deposition. Be explicitly clear with the client about what to include in their answer..
Related Article: How a Personal Injury Demand Letter Can Enable a Recovery in Excess of Policy Limits for Settlements
3. Do Not Speculate
One of the most powerful tricks lawyers use in depositions is baiting the client to speculate on objective facts they cannot possibly know for certain, such as speed, distance, or time, so teaching them to avoid that is key to understanding how to prepare a client for a deposition as an attorney.
“Credibility is always relevant. So, if a client commits unforced errors that undermine their credibility in a deposition, they’ve shot themselves in the foot over something stupid, and they’re going to get burned on that information. They’ll just keep laying out rope and let the plaintiff hang themself with it,” said Williamson.
If a client guesses the defendant was driving 50 miles per hour, for example, and the accident reconstruction shows 20 miles per hour, the defense will use this to paint the client as an exaggerator to the jury. This tactic is central to how defense counsel seeks to reduce a verdict.
“We don’t want our clients to speculate about things that they don’t know. The defense’s strategy in a clear liability case is death by a thousand cuts – if they get up to about five or six little things, now all of the sudden, the jury goes, ‘Wow, this guy’s full of it,’ and they have tanked your client’s credibility. Once your client’s credibility is dismantled, your case will likely fall apart soon after, so this is absolutely essential to train your client on because it doesn’t matter how deep your lawyer’s toolbox is; repairing credibility is often nearly impossible,” explained Williamson.
The only correct answer to a question requiring an objective measurement that the client did not observe is: “I don’t know,” or “I can only give an estimate.” Some things require even more careful attention, like the more subjective answers that they have given at hospitals.
“If a client went to the emergency room and said, ‘I’m a six,’ on the pain scale, but then at the deposition, they go, ‘I was a 10 out of 10,’ they have just damaged their case unnecessarily. The defense can now claim your client is exaggerating their injuries,” states Schneider. Another thing you have to educate and prepare your clients on is errors in their medical records. Medical records are often wrong, but you never want the client to argue with the medical records because the jury is going to believe the client’s lying and the records are correct,” said Schneider. If there is an error in the records, the client should say, “I don’t recall saying that” or “I was not feeling well when I was being asked those questions.”
Related Article: 5 Tips for Dealing with Insurance Adjusters | The Lawyers’ Toolbox
4. The Discovery Imperative
Early in the litigation process, both sides can request relevant information from the other or from third parties such as doctors or other insurance companies. Discovery is the backbone of how to prepare for a deposition.
Defense counsel will obtain records that your firm may not have, sometimes going back many years. This includes old medical records that may reveal a pre-existing condition, prior claims, or other seemingly unrelated issues that they will use to blindside the client.
“It is critical that we know what information the defense has before they examine a client under oath. If we don’t obtain that from the defense, they’re probably going to take some hits on that information. You always want to see what records the other side has, and you’re entitled to what the defense has about your client by law. Some of the information might require paying a fee, but it will more than pay for itself, so don’t let that deter you from doing your due diligence,” said Schneider.
Related Article: Personal Injury Case Management in Georgia: The Medical Side | The Lawyers’ Toolbox
5. Mental Preparation and Fighting the “I Don’t Recall” Panic
A nervous, flustered client may panic and overuse the phrase “I don’t recall” or “I don’t know.” While this is sometimes appropriate, excessive use suggests a lack of credible memory about their own case or, worse, calculated dishonesty. Defense counsel will push this until the client is forced into a corner.
“You really have to make your client comfortable with what’s going to happen because they get nervous. Put yourself in their shoes. It’s a nerve-wracking experience with high stakes, so it’s a perfectly normal and human reaction,” said Williamson.
The goal, ultimately, is to ensure the client is comfortable and composed.
“One thing that’s really important to reiterate is that this is not like what they have seen on TV. You should be making them comfortable with the reality of this process. When the client starts doing that, ‘I don’t recall…I don’t recall…I don’t recall…,’ thing because they’re panicking, this is when a case falls apart. Because, at that point, they’re lying and crossing the line because they do recall. They’ve just gotten confused or mixed up or afraid and think that’s what they’re supposed to say. So, you need to dispel that myth. That’s part of your job as a lawyer,” said Schneider.
The Pause: You should advise your clients to take a breath before answering every question. As Williamson noted, “It forces them to pause for a second to think about what the actual question is… Don’t let the defense attorney suck you into a rhythm where you’re just puking up bad information.” This allows for clearer, more intentional responses, protecting the client from the rhythm of the interrogation. This mental prep is a crucial part of how to prepare your client for a deposition.
Related Article: 5 Tips for Dealing with Insurance Adjusters | The Lawyers’ Toolbox
Personal Injury Deposition Preparation Checklist
For an easier, more concise reference guide to use when coaching your client for this stage of personal injury litigation, we have compiled the above steps into a simple, convenient “preparing your client for a deposition checklist”:
Understand the Format: Ensure that they recognize that the deposition is a formal, recorded interrogation, not a casual conversation or a chance to “tell their story.”
Be Succinct: Practice the “Answer and Stop” rule. They should answer only the question asked, no more and no less, to avoid volunteering damaging information.
Do Not Speculate: If asked for objective facts they don’t know (like exact speed, distance, or time), the correct answer is “I don’t know” or “I don’t recall.” Never guess. Still, it’s equally important to train your clients on when these answers are appropriate. You need to make it abundantly clear that ignorance is not a legal loophole they should try to exploit.
Avoid Arguing with Records: If defense counsel raises inconsistencies between their memory and a written record (like a pain score in an ER note), coach them to state what they remember about their condition (e.g., being in severe pain), but remind them to avoid directly arguing that the record-taker was wrong.
Take Your Time: Teach them that they have the right to pause and take a breath before answering every question, and ensure they understand to do this. This prevents them from being rushed into making mistakes and helps ensure they fully understand the question.
Review Key Documents: Have them familiarize themselves with the police report and their initial medical records to refresh their memory on names, dates, and core events leading up to and immediately following the incident.
Related Article: Personal Injury Case Management in Georgia: The Medical Side | The Lawyers’ Toolbox
Tricks Lawyers Use in Personal Injury Depositions
Understanding these tactics is absolutely critical to understanding how to prepare a client for a personal injury deposition as an attorney, because that’s the only way to anticipate and strategize against potential tactics. Here are some common tricks lawyers use in personal injury depositions:
- Baiting Speculation: Asking questions about speed, distance, or time, or prompting opinions the client cannot objectively verify, to establish a foundation for later claiming client exaggeration.
- Encouraging Conversation: Employing a friendly, disarming tone to encourage the client to volunteer unnecessary details about their past, their day, or their personal life, creating new avenues for impeachment.
- “Death by a Thousand Cuts”: Using five or six minor inconsistencies (e.g., minor old injury, slight misstatement on speed, confusion over a date) to collectively dismantle the client’s overall credibility.
- Exploiting the “Unload” Mindset: Relying on the client’s desire to talk about their suffering or justify their case, leading them to inadvertently disclose privileged information or make harmful legal conclusions.
- Confronting Unseen Records: Blindsiding the client with an old, previously unknown medical or employment record secured through discovery to suggest pre-existing conditions or prior dishonesty.
- Inducing the “I Don’t Recall” Trap: Rushing the client or pressuring them on small details until they default to excessive use of “I don’t recall,” which the defense will argue suggests they are lying or hiding crucial information.
The Value of an Expert Referral Partner
We hope you now know a little more about how to prepare a client for a personal injury deposition. If you are an attorney focused on other practice areas, the time required for this level of intensive, specialized preparation for deposition can be prohibitive. The specialized knowledge required to counter these defense tactics lawyers use in depositions is what differentiates the litigation team at Schneider Williamson.
“Depositions seem like such a mundane, ordinary part of every case, but they are actually potential pitfalls, and it can sometimes seem like you are navigating a minefield. If you treat your client’s deposition like just another day in the case, then you aren’t taking it seriously enough, and you are doing a disservice to your client,” cautioned Schneider.
Our team of active personal injury litigators provides your clients with continuity of care and the dedication to see their cases through to a successful outcome, ensuring they receive the full value of their claim.
If you have a complex or high-stakes personal injury case in Atlanta or anywhere in Georgia, partnering with Schneider Williamson ensures your client’s case will not be gutted by “unforced errors.” Let’s talk about creating a referral partnership.
