Advanced Deposition Strategy and Tactics

This is a continuing TLU program with changing content.

Creating the Miller Mousetrap Question and Custom Deposition Exhibits for your Case. (limit 15 participants)

Please be prepared to discuss a case where you may depose a defendant. In this workshop, we will draft possible mousetrap questions and possible exhibits for as many participants as possible within our time limits.

Hour 1 - Critical Thinking: Anticipating the Defenses and Developing a Plan for Admissions/Concessions from defense witnesses.

• Standard Defense Schemas – Identifying Landmines
• What dep evidence do jurors want to hear
• Identifying Exhibits for Control of Each Witness
• Developing rules/rhetorical questions
• Witness psychology (don’t let them think they might get fired)

Hour 2 - Basic Skills to Discover Everything the Witness knows, protect yourself from changes in testimony, and create soundbites.

1. Open-Ended Questions
2. Exhaustion
3. Boxing-in
4. Restating and summarizing
5. Bracketing
6. Introduction of Exhibits
7. Dealing with Obstruction

Hour 3 - Establishing (SOC) Stds of Care & Conduct with Defense Witnesses

1. The Miller Mousetrap
2. Finding the “right” rule for your case
3. Rhetorical questions
4. Use of exhibits to cement concession/admission

Hour 4 - Crafting the Mousetrap question(s) for your case. I

1. Possible rhetoricals
2. Polarizing the witness
3. Setting up your question

Hour 5 - Using/Creating Visuals for Depositions with examples and digital copies for participants

1. Agree/Disagree
2. Yes/No Matrix
3. Rhetorical questions
4. Time Lines
5. Plotlines/Storylines
6. Defendant Documents
7. X-Ray, MRI, CT FILMS
8. Medical Illustrations
9. Models

Hour 6 - Using/Creating Visuals for Depositions