Deposition Strategies in Employment Litigation: Taking and Defending Depositions of Plaintiffs and Fact Witnesses
Leveraging Deposition Testimony During Discovery, Summary Judgment, Settlement, and Trial
Recording of a 90-minute CLE video webinar with Q&A
This CLE course will prepare employment trial lawyers to take and defend depositions of plaintiffs and fact witnesses. The panel will explain tactics for preparing witnesses, outline techniques for effective questioning, and offer strategies for leveraging deposition testimony during discovery, summary judgment, settlement, and trial.
Outline
- Planning for depositions
- Determining who to depose
- Type of deposition
- Goals of deposition
- Seating arrangements, participant personalities, and other "dynamics" considerations
- Witness preparation
- Document requests
- Taking and defending depositions
- Questioning witnesses
- Raising and responding to objections
- Using exhibits
- Using information obtained from social media
- Post-deposition strategies
- Using deposition information during discovery
- Using deposition information during summary judgment hearings
- Using deposition information during settlement discussions and trial
Benefits
The panel will review these and other high priority issues:
- What are the most common challenges employment litigators face when taking and defending depositions of plaintiffs and fact witnesses?
- What deposition questioning techniques will maximize the information obtained from witnesses?
- What strategies are useful when raising and responding to objections during depositions?
- How can deposition testimony be most effectively used during summary judgment, discovery, settlement, and trial?
Faculty
Jesse A. Cripps
Partner
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher
Mr. Cripps handles the full range of labor and employment matters under federal and state law, specializing in the... | Read More
Mr. Cripps handles the full range of labor and employment matters under federal and state law, specializing in the defense of high-risk, complex and class action litigation. He has a wide-range of courtroom experience, including several months of experience in various state and federal jury trials. He speaks regularly on employment issues.
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Bart Jordan
Associate
Rutan & Tucker
Mr. Jordan represents employers in wage-and-hour, harassment, discrimination, and wrongful termination matters. He... | Read More
Mr. Jordan represents employers in wage-and-hour, harassment, discrimination, and wrongful termination matters. He also assists employers with their general employment counseling needs and has particular expertise in internal and government investigations. Mr. Jordan's litigation practice includes the defense of wage-and-hour class actions and representative claims under the California Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA). He has conducted multiple workplace investigations on behalf of companies and audit committees, including investigations into allegations of sexual harassment, workplace misconduct, whistleblower retaliation, fraud, and other issues. In addition to his litigation and investigations work, Mr. Jordan advises companies on best practices for ensuring wage and hour compliance and helps employers navigate California’s ever-changing employment law landscape.
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William C. Martucci
Partner; Chair, National Employment Litigation & Policy Practice Group
Shook Hardy & Bacon
Mr. Martucci practices nationally in business and employment litigation, with a focus on complex class action... | Read More
Mr. Martucci practices nationally in business and employment litigation, with a focus on complex class action (employment discrimination and wage-and-hour, including California) litigation, as well as high-stakes executive disputes, whistleblower matters, and unfair competition. Working as part of a trial team, presenting and winning cases on behalf of companies before juries, and advising corporate clients concerning effective business and human resources practices are the primary activities in which Mr. Martucci engages. He has successfully tried a number of jury cases and has effectively resolved a variety of class action cases. His litigation docket is national in scope with cases throughout the U.S. His primary practice areas focus on complex class action (employment discrimination and wage & hour) litigation, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission litigation, unfair competition litigation, and business litigation. In the traditional labor relations field, Mr. Martucci has been involved in a number of NLRB representations, as well as serving as strategic labor relations counsel for national companies.
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