Page 31 - FDCC Deposition Drills

Deposition Drills How to Teach Deposition Skills
Using Contracts
Cases involving contracts will revolve around the language in those contracts – who drafted them, revisions to them, what they mean, how they’re interpreted, how they are applied, how
the parties have interpreted them, etc. Learning to use contracts in depositions is a two step process. The first step is becoming acquainted with the different types of contracts, the different parts of a contract, the definitions in contracts and the meaning of common clauses in contracts. After understanding the basics of contracts, one needs to learn how to question a witness about a contract. When teaching others to use contracts, teach them how to read and understand a contract and then teach them how to question others about it.
EXPLANATION
Participants will learn how to interpret a contract and then question a witness about it.
EXERCISE
Identify and copy a contract used in a deposition. Explain to the participants its contents, its role in the case and how it was used in the deposition. Then have the participants question you about its contents, trying to having you make admissions about the contract, its content and its interpretations that support the case. Learning how to use a contract effectively takes time and practice. This exercise is worth repeating with different contracts used in different matters.
LESSONS LEARNED
This exercise teaches participants how to use a contract to question a deponent. Participants will learn how to lay a foundation with a witness about their knowledge of and exposure to a contract, their role in drafting or applying it, their understanding of key terms and the basis of that understanding, and how to use the language of a contract to pin a witness down and have him make favorable admissions about it, its language and its application.
A FEW QUESTIONS TO DISCUSS
Whatistheimportanceofthedefinitionsectionofacontract? Whatarecommondefinitions? Whatarecommonclausesfoundinmostcontracts? Whatistheirsignificance?
How do you lay the foundation to ask a deponent about a contract?
How do you get a witness to focus on a specific clause in a contract?
How do you question a witness that argues with you over what a contract says or means? Howdoyouusee-mailsandcorrespondencetobolsteryourinterpretationofa contractwithawitness?
©2021 Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel
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SECTION 03 USING EXHIBITS