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Post by sibemom on Mar 2, 2007 20:06:09 GMT -5
Today was suppose to be my deoposition for my accident. I was suppose to meet my lawyers partner at the courthouse at 9am. This has been scheduled for over 2 months so it was a long and drawn out waiting period lots of stress. Well we had ONE HECK OF A SNOW STORM that continued through yesterday and I thought for sure I would have gotten a call telling me they were going to reschedule, but NOPE no call so I thought well I guess it's still on I was suppose to meet him for my breifing at 9am at the courthouse, so Bob took the day off, we arranged for a sitter for Matt because with the storm I figured the kids would not have school. When I got up this morning actually the snow was already melting and it was really nice out, and still no call to cancel. So I take my shower, Bob gets up and we are ready to take Matt to the sitter this is like 8:30am and the phone rings. It is the lawyers partner, and he says he is in Green Bay, which is 50 miles from us, and he is not sure if they should postpone or not Well I was confused. He drove up from Milwaukee which is a 2 hour drive at least to where he said he was (which I question mind you), made it to Green Bay and only has 50 more miles to go and decides maybe he should NOT COME AT ALL I told him that the roads were wet and maybe had some slippery spots but as far as I knew the highways were fine, and it was not snowing anymore. Well he said I will call you back in about 10 minutes. I say OK. He calls back and says we are going to postpone because GET THIS The defendant could not make it I said in a very loud voice WHAT WHY IS SHE GOING TO BE THERE He had no answer and just kind of blew me off. I said I WAS NEVER TOLD THAT THIS WOMAN WOULD BE THERE >: Why would she be at MY DEPOSITION? ?? Well I am not even sure he was in Green Bay because on my caller ID it did not come up a cell phone it came up as the other firm that my lawyer is a partner in which is in Milwaukee. Well let me tell you, I am sick and tired of this and to put it quite plainly I am sick of being jerked around. From now on MY LAWYER better be handeling this stuff not his partner, and then the guy did not even know that we were meeting at the courthouse he thought we were meeting at the library Of course I did not want him risking his saftey to drive here but if he drove from Milwaukee and made it to Green Bay then he was home free because really it was not bad here at all, and like I said the roads were clear just wet and you had to be careful nothing near as bad as the night I got hit by the drunk . Monday morning my lawyer is getting an ear full from me. My husband lost a day of work which we sure can not afford and if they would have called yesterday Bob could have gone to work because he took off Thursday so he could be up early to take me, he does not get home till 2am so he needed to have Thursday off. I have been a wreck thinking about this for 2 months and now HERE WE GO AGAIN. ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR Sorry guys but this is my favorite place to vent
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Post by Nicole on Mar 2, 2007 22:02:18 GMT -5
OK take a deeeep breath. I know it is frustrating but it is unfortunately par for the course. Depositions are adjourned usually at the last minute sometimes 10 times in a row always at the inconvenience of the party..you. The lawyers don't think a thing about it because it is so usual. When he said defendant, he most likely meant the defendant's attorney. The attorney is referred to as the defendant believe it or not. Also a party is entitled to be present at all depositions, at least here, so if she wants to be there assuming your law is the same, she can be. You can be present at her deposition too. It is also possible that you are both going to be deposed on the same day. That is pretty standard in auto cases. Also, the firm represents you, so technically any attorney can represent you at the deposition. More often than not it is not the lawyer you speak to on a daily basis. It is who is available on that day. That is very common to have someone you have never dealt with appear at the deposition. But if it is a good firm, that attorney will be thoroughly prepared. I am really sorry that you were upset. Unfortunately when something is so common place, people (lawyers) forget that there are those that are very inconvenienced. That is not an excuse at all but unfortunately (I keep using that word) that is the way it is. Don't be so upset although I know that is hard. It is our great legal system at work.
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Post by sibemom on Mar 3, 2007 8:10:05 GMT -5
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Post by Nicole on Mar 3, 2007 8:41:50 GMT -5
Ann, definitely ask them if the other party will be there. They didn't alert you to this because once again it is so common they forget that ordinary people are not aware of the procedure.
Also, it really isn't a huge deal. You don't talk to her. She would just be sitting at the table next to her lawyer.
Another thing you can do is ask them to prepare you for the deposition before the day of the deposition. Usually this is done an hour before on the morning of the deposition but there is nothing that says it can't be on a different day. If it is too far, have a telephone prep. There are many cases that Brian handles this way if there is a lot involved especially medically or if there are stress issues so the witness is not exhausted by the time the questioning starts. Basically they are just going to give you instructions and go over important aspects of your testimony. That can be a lot to do on the morning of the deposition in a complex case.
As to bringing your doctor, don't get upset but Brian says he would think you were over the edge. The other side judges you. And if they think you are doing weird things (no one brings a doctor to a deposition) that is going to effect the way they evaluate your credibility. Plus technically, at least here, if you are not a party you are not allowed to be at a deposition and the defendant's counsel can object and the doctor that you are paying to be there will be sent home.
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Post by sibemom on Mar 3, 2007 9:42:16 GMT -5
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Post by Aussienot on Mar 4, 2007 4:55:17 GMT -5
I remember long ago when I was first starting college, someone wise told told me that graduating as a working student was not about learning, not about studying, not about grades. It was about enduring - surviving.
Just keep putting one completed day, one completed assignment at a time, never look at how far you have to go, what hurdles are looming ahead of you tomorrow, how many times you have fallen in the past. Focus on surviving today.
I guess the court process is much the same. Stall, delay, make it seemingly impossible to outlast them.The defendant's lawyers will try everything to shake you loose, including stress, inconvenience, frustration, loss of income, escalating expense, threatening, increasing idiocy, bartering, f------ing around with your life and happiness. They gamble that enough stress will eventually make you give up.
Just take one day at a time and keep chipping away towards a resolution. I guess no one told them you hang on like a pit bull when you know you are right. Hang on sister, use that anger to strengthen your resolve to get a result that is fair. Remember what Richard said about the alpha dog!
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Post by Nicole on Mar 4, 2007 17:50:33 GMT -5
I guess the court process is much the same. Stall, delay, make it seemingly impossible to outlast them.The defendant's lawyers will try everything to shake you loose, including stress, inconvenience, frustration, loss of income, escalating expense, threatening, increasing idiocy, bartering, f------ing around with your life and happiness. They gamble that enough stress will eventually make you give up. The irony is that in 98% of the cases, delay is caused by the plaintiff's attorney, not the defense attorney. Defense attorneys don't make money by delaying. They only make money by proceeding. If the deposition is canceled they make $0. They are paid hourly. And they have so many cases that they barely even know you exist until the deposition and they certainly don't have time to conspire to make you "give up" or to frustrate you. If you give up which by the way never ever happens in real life and the case ends prematurely they don't get paid anymore. So therein ends the fallacy that they want you to give up. Believe me that there is not a defense attorney conspiracy to make you miserable. They are defending the case as they are required to do. There is nothing evil about it. The truth is they really don't have the time to even think about you until there is a procedure that they must attend to.
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Post by sibemom on Mar 5, 2007 7:16:29 GMT -5
Thanks Nicki for clearing that up ;D See I was under the impression to that the defense trys to starve you out so to speak, untill you give up. You are right why would they even know you exist untill your case comes in front of them, and actually the defense attorney is on retainer anyway for my insurance company GO FIGURE She gets the FREE LAWYER, and I have to pay even though we both have the same insurance Yeah I know it's just the process Well my attorney called me yesterday YES ON SUNDAY He was very applogetic about the cancelling and we talked for awhile, and he said they will get this rescheduled soon. I asked him why his partner had no idea where he was suppose to meet me He had no answer but said he would take care of that and apologized again for the confusion. I explained to him that made me a bit concerned because it sounded like he had no idea what was going on, and he said he would take care of that. I asked about the phone prep like you suggested Nicki and he said that is what we are going to do. I could not invision myself sitting there for all that time, you are right it would be to overwhelming, exhausting and PAINFUL . I also asked him if the woman that hit me will be at the deposition and he said she can be but he does not think she will be, and if she is they will handle it so that I am not to uncomfortable. I appreciated him contacting me that showed me again why I chose his firm. I was just so disgusted that this was not done yet, but now I feel better. He again told me to let him know if any of the process was hard for me because he will do what he can to make it easier, he is a really nice attorney and like I said came so highly recomended because of his compasionate way that he handles clients and the good outcome that he is known for, it was just his partner that I was a little shook by This next time he will be the one handeling it if at all possiable so that is a good thing because I am very comfortable with him, because he is very detailed and knows what is going on at all times, I mean I am confused enough on my own don't need to have more added to it So on to ROUND TWO ;D
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