Legal Research Guides by Course - Deposition Skills
Course Description
Deposition skills will provide the students with a general overview of the discovery process, with specific emphasis on depositions. The students will be presented with as few as one and as many as three fact patterns based upon actual cases. The students will be expected to review the fact pattern and determine the identity of individuals to be deposed. The students will then be asked to prepare a deposition outline for each individual to be deposed as well as a summary of documents to be requested and then used at the depositions. The students will then conduct the deposition of the Instructor, who will assume the role of the chosen deponent. The students will then receive critique from the Instructor which they will hopefully utilize in their next deposition exercise. It is anticipated that the students will conduct a minimum of two depositions during the course of the semester. The students will be evaluated based upon their analysis of the fact pattern, preparation of a written deposition outline, their overall quality of questions and demeanor during depositions, and their ability to incorporate the Instructor's critique into their next deposition exercise. Prerequisite: Evidence (2 credits)
Faculty Who Teach This Course
- Manning J. O’Connor, Esq. (adjunct professor)
- Honorable David N. Wecht (Judge of the Court of Common Pleas Family Division & adjunct professor)
Subject Covered Presently in Collection by:
Print Collection
KF8900 Civil Procedure – Pretrial Procedure – Deposition and Discovery - Interrogatories
KFP537 Pennsylvania - Civil Procedure – Pretrial Procedure – Deposition and Discovery - Interrogatories
Legal Research Databases
- Hein Online
- Bloomberg Law
- Westlaw and Lexis
- Legal Scholarship Network - search deposition
- LoisLaw - Treatises - General Litigation Library & Mauet Trial Practice Library
- Deposition (LII) - http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/deposition
- What to look for in a Video Deposition (hg.org) - http://www.hg.org/article.asp?id=28315
- How to Take a Deposition (ABA Litigation Section) - http://apps.americanbar.org/litigation/committees/youngadvocate/articles/spring2011-take-deposition.html
- Deposition Tips (Caught.net) - http://caught.net/prose/DepositionTips.htm
- Deposition Practice Tips (James Publishing free articles) - http://www.jamespublishing.com/articles_forms/civillitigation/deposition_practice_tips.htm
- Top 10 Killer Deposition Questions (NewDorf Legal) - http://www.newdorf.com/top_ten_killer_deposition_questions
- Winning at Deposition - Book Excerpts - http://www.winningatdeposition.com/Book_Excerpts.html
- Proper Deposition Objections (Lawyerist.com) - http://lawyerist.com/proper-deposition-objections/
- Winning Deposition Strategies - pdf (Payne Mitchell) - http://www.paynemitchell.com/objectfiles/PMLG.Web.Data.Publication/12/Winning%20Deposition%20Strategies%20AP.pdf
- Depositions and Discovery (Pa Code) - http://www.pacode.com/secure/data/231/chapter4000/chap4000toc.html
- 10 Tips for Your Deposition (Pa Law Monitor) - http://palawblog.stark-stark.com/2011/09/articles/personal-injury/10-tips-for-your-deposition/
- What is a Deposition in Pennsylvania Personal Injury Case? - http://www.carpeylaw.com/2012/02/what-is-a-deposition-in-the-pennsylvania-personal-injury-case/
DCLI Webpage Links
- Primary Legal Research: Case Law
- Legal Research Guides: Practice Skills
rev. 10/17/2012
Patricia Horvath
