Litigating in the Virtual World: Passing Fad or Wave of the Future?
Sitting with the C-Suite: The New Normal - Embracing Remote Technology
VIRTUAL ADR UPDATE – TECHNOLOGY, CYBERSECURITY AND UNIQUE ISSUES PRESENTED BY HON. JOHN P. DIBLASI
Sitting with the C-Suite: COVID 19 Impact – Four Sectors of Change for the Legal Industry
Remote depositions took hold during COVID and continue to be common; one study conducted in 2021 found that while 87 percent of lawyers rarely or never participated in remote depositions before COVID, 83 percent expected to...more
With the COVID pandemic, remote video depositions and trial testimony very quickly went from rare to routine. Remote testimony, for the most part, is viewed as a convenience to both witnesses and attorneys, and parties and...more
Though typically conducted in a conference room, a deposition can take place in many locations and through a variety of methods. So long as you capture a verbatim record, either face-to-face or remotely through the use of...more
Depositions were once an almost exclusively in-person process. In the not-so-distant past, remote depositions were used infrequently, but they became a necessity during lockdowns in 2020. Today, both remote and hybrid...more
If we can do weddings, funerals, healthcare, work, and trials via videoconference, surely we can do the same with depositions. And with that closing remark, a federal magistrate judge summarily dispatched one litigant’s...more
If the word “Shaq” conjures up the image of professional basketball legend and amiable IcyHot liniment pitchman Shaquille O’Neal, you could be missing out on a valuable mnemonic device for preparing witnesses for deposition:...more
An attorney who surreptitiously fed answers to his client – roughly 50 times during a six-hour remote deposition, according to court documents – has been given a public reprimand by the Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers....more
For the second time this year, the American Bar Association is offering guidance on how litigators can successfully, and ethically, minimize the occurrence of witness coaching during remote depositions. The ABA’s advice in a...more
Depositions can be stressful affairs. For many witnesses, depositions are a once-in-a-lifetime plunge into the unknown with a lot riding on their testimony. Sitting in a room full of strangers, listening to lawyers argue over...more
Even today some attorneys approach remote depositions with a small measure of trepidation. They worry that the lack of physical proximity diminishes their ability to engage with the deponent. They wonder how they can...more
After the COVID-19 pandemic shook the world in early 2020, many industries pivoted to conducting business in ways that reduced or eliminated face-to-face interactions. Fortunately, with internet capability generally...more
The number of remote legal proceedings hit a peak a few years back, but the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency doesn’t mean a reversal to pre-pandemic logistics. While they can have some drawbacks, virtual...more
If a court trial or successful settlement is the Superbowl, then depositions are the key games in the season that get you there. Each deposition is an official, sworn record of witness testimony that can yield critical...more
No other pretrial discovery process rivals the deposition for its ability to alter the course of civil litigation. Depositions alone bring litigators face-to-face with key witnesses, experts, and the parties themselves in a...more
Tips for Tackling Virtual Depositions - Up to 90% of depositions taken throughout the height of the pandemic were virtual, and that short-term need has generated a long-term change. In fact, in a recent survey, only 4% of...more
In this post, we’re going to share three excellent deposition tips taken from a recent online presentation, How to Prepare for Your First (or 100th) Deposition, delivered by a pair of Miami-based litigators. Among many other...more
In his article Eight Traits of Great Trial Lawyers, former U.S. Federal District Judge Mark W. Bennett remarked that lack of preparation topped the list of trial lawyer shortcomings in his courtroom. “Preparation,” Judge...more
Battle-tested during the COVID-19 pandemic, the remote deposition proved its mettle and quickly became a staple of pretrial discovery practice. Cost savings to the client, efficiencies to the busy litigator, and tens of...more
Remote depositions raise unique challenges for litigators, foremost among them the need to ensure the integrity of the deponent’s testimony. In a typical remote deposition scenario, where the attorney taking the deposition is...more
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW IN A MINUTE OR LESS - The COVID-19 pandemic has forced those in the legal profession to transition to a virtual world in many respects. One example of this transition is conducting remote or “virtual”...more
As noted in two prior posts, one on May 15, 2020, and the other on May 29, 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting explosion in the use of remote depositions present a number of novel issues for lawyers to consider,...more