In Episode 29 of May the Record Reflect, we gather all sorts of admissions—about depositions—from NITA NextGen alumni faculty member Jason Young. After taking and defending thousands of depositions throughout his career, he’s no-nonsense and has figured out how to make the challenges easier on himself, his clients, and his witnesses. Jason also talks about the crucial work–life decisions all lawyers face as they begin their careers. 

Topics

2:58     The hard part of taking depositions 

5:07     Federal rules related to depositions

8:24     Witnesses, both expert and lay  

10:47  Role of social media 

14:21   When to video-record a deposition 

16:47  The hard part of dealing with witnesses

18:51  Timelines for expert witnesses, plaintiff versus defendant

21:19  Subpoenas

25:10  Obnoxious opposing counsel

30:02  Preparing your witness

34:53  Protecting your witness

37:01  Remote depositions

38:30  Work–life balance and advice for new lawyers

44:50  Signoff questions

Quote

“What a lot of inexperienced deposition lawyers have a problem with is they are terrified of the unknown in depositions and afraid to follow up on things, know how to shut things down, and that really scares a lot of people. And I guess the thinking with depositions a lot of times is, you want to know more. If there’s information that’s going to come out that’s going to hurt me, I want to know it in a deposition. If there’s additional facts I need or something I didn’t know, I’d rather find out in a depo than in trial.” Jason Young

Resources

Jason Young (bio)

Blog interview (The Legal Advocate)

Federal Rules of Evidence with Objections (book)

NITA Deposition courses (registration)