Lost in Translation

The Office deposition

I have been reading lots of depos lately. For those of you who do not know what that is, its a deposition. Basically its testimony before a trial but its normally in a conference room and just the lawyers, a court reporter and sometimes a videographer are present. Either way, its considered testimony and its taken under oath and can be used later at trial. Depos are used in suits to help each side get better idea of the facts and circumstances of the case as well as develop a sense of what each witness will be like in the stand. In insurance cases, you can take what is called an examination under oath, which is basically just like a deposition, but its normally taken before a suit is filed and is used to help an insurance company figure out what happened when a claim is made.

But you would be amazed at what people say in these things, on both sides. The best part about reading depos and EUOs is that I get to make believe. I can give the people voices, personalities, and imagine what they look like. It's like reading a really juicy detective novel one day or a sci-fi book the next.

Think about if every conversation you had was recorded on paper and imagin what it would be like to read that back to yourself. You lose the tone, inflection, facial expressions. You cannot rely on body language or verbal cues. Sometimes the answer given does not match the question asked and vice versa. Other times you read the question asked and wonder how on earth anyone would answer it.

The best part is how things read out. The exchange on paper is nothing like how it played out in reality; things literally get lost in translation. So in lawyer land, depos are my tragedies, my comedies, and my love stories. For your viewing pleasure, here are a few examples of depositions. Happy reading. ~The Illegal Blonde