Twenty Minute Checkup – A Plan in Two Parts

Your deposition has begun. You are answering questions. How do you know if you are doing a good job or not? You can’t ask your attorney… or can you?

An excellent idea is to implement the Twenty Minute Checkup. For the Part One of the plan, you and your attorney agree to take a break after the first twenty minutes of the deposition have elapsed. You can then retire to a room and talk about what things you are doing well, and what you need to improve on. Are you trying to answer with “Yes” or “No” only? Are you getting too comfortable and chummy with the opposing attorney? Are you explaining your answers? Are you defending yourself? Twenty minutes isn’t that long and you probably won’t get into that much trouble if you have been practicing ahead of time.

On my most recent deposition, my attorney and I had this plan in place. But we took it to the next level. I looked at the clock: twenty minutes had gone by and my attorney had not asked for a break. Then thirty minutes had transpired. Then an hour had gone by! The opposing counsel then asked for a break.

What happened?

We had implemented Part Two of the plan! I was doing so well that my attorney chose to let me keep going. Opposing counsel tapped out first and asked for the break! If you are on a roll and keeping answers narrowly focused, answering questions honestly, pausing before answering, etc. why would you stop? If you go past the twenty minutes, be confident that you are doing a great job and that your attorney is thrilled with your performance.

The Twenty Minute Checkup is a great idea that should help calm your nerves as well as confirm that you and your attorney are on the same page.