I left my phone in my office and was now regretting it. I developed a bad habit of phone surfing during "unimportant parts" of depositions. But this deposition was going terrible and I needed some form of escape.
Contradictions, half answers, exaggerations. Despite the oath my client took at the onset, it was merely lip service as they espoused the most equine excrement-laden account of the incident I'd heard to date.
Zealous representation is what is required of me. Falsifying and exaggerating is not.
That loud explosion was my client's credibility being torpedoed. No amount of annoying objections I could muster would prevent the truth from coming to light. And isn't that what depositions are for anyway?
This case needed to be settled yesterday. I'd be lucky if the current offer wasn't retracted by the time the defense attorney got back to his office.
I strained over how to call out my client 's dishonesty without getting a Board of Professional Responsibility complaint in retaliation.
The defense attorney called out my client several times, successfully. Maybe that laid a foundation that I could build on to get this case settled and move on to more reputable clients? The ones you pictured in law school helping.
After the deposition, I sat down nervously. A few minutes of honest talk. My client conceded, understanding the case needed to be settled right now. Suddenly the mountain of my client's resistance in "holding out for more money" was reduced to rubble when the threat of the current cash being taken off the table became a likely reality.
Serve your clients well, the good and bad. Settle the bad ones if you can, quickly.
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