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Course Details

Course Information
  • smart_display Format

    On-Demand

  • signal_cellular_alt Difficulty Level

    Intermediate

  • work Practice Area

    Employment and Workers Comp

Date & Time
  • event Date

    Wednesday, January 22, 2025

  • schedule Time

    1:00 p.m. ET./10:00 a.m. PT

  • timer Program Length

    90 minutes

Credit Information

  • This 90-minute webinar is eligible in most states for 1.5 CLE credits.

$297.00
CLE
ALL

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.

Faculty

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 (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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Jesse A. Cripps
Partner
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP

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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Description

Polished deposition skills are critical to a successful employment litigation practice. The information gained during depositions impacts summary judgment, trial strategy, and settlement discussions. Obtaining or protecting essential information during depositions is key to a positive--or negative--case outcome.

Skillfully preparing deponents, taking control of the dynamics of a deposition, effectively questioning the witnesses, and strategically raising objections have a significant impact on the usefulness of information obtained during depositions.

Listen as our authoritative panel of employment litigators discusses effective witness preparation techniques, advanced questioning methods, and strategies for using deposition testimony during discovery, summary judgment hearings, settlement discussions, and trial.

Outline

  1. Planning for depositions
    1. Determining who to depose
    2. Type of deposition
    3. Goals of deposition
    4. Seating arrangements, participant personalities, and other "dynamics" considerations
    5. Witness preparation
    6. Document requests
  2. Taking and defending depositions
    1. Questioning witnesses
    2. Raising and responding to objections
    3. Using exhibits
    4. Using information obtained from social media
  3. Post-deposition strategies
    1. Using deposition information during discovery
    2. Using deposition information during summary judgment hearings
    3. 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?