A deposition in a personal injury case is sworn, out-of-court questioning that happens after the lawsuit is filed but before trial. The opposing attorney asks you questions under oath, a court reporter types every word, and the transcript carries the same legal weight as testimony given on a witness stand. Lying in a deposition is perjury, a federal crime punishable by up to five years in prison.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 US Code 1621 – Perjury Generally Most personal injury cases settle after depositions are finished, because by then both sides have a realistic picture of how the witnesses will come across to a jury.
What Actually Happens at a Deposition
Depositions almost never happen in a courtroom. The usual setting is a conference room at a law office. The person being questioned is called the deponent. In a personal injury case, that’s typically the plaintiff, the defendant, eyewitnesses, treating doctors, and expert witnesses.
A court reporter administers the oath and creates the official word-for-word transcript. A videographer may also record the session, which is common for medical experts and for any witness who might not be available at trial. Your attorney sits with you to protect your rights and raise objections. The opposing attorney runs the questioning. After they finish, your attorney and any other lawyers present may ask their own questions.
What You Can Be Asked
The scope is broad. Attorneys can ask about anything relevant to any party’s claims or defenses, even if the answer itself wouldn’t be admissible at trial, as long as the question is reasonably likely to lead to useful evidence. In a personal injury deposition, expect questions covering:
- The incident itself: what happened, when, where, and who was involved.
- Your injuries: what hurts, what treatment you’ve had, and how your daily life has changed.
- Medical history: prior injuries, pre-existing conditions, and past treatment of the same body parts.
- Employment and finances: lost wages, job duties you can no longer perform, and any disability claims.
- Background: your education, living situation, and daily routine, before and after the injury.
The hard boundary is privilege. Questions that invade attorney-client communications or other legally protected relationships are off-limits, and your attorney can instruct you not to answer those.2Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 30 – Depositions by Oral Examination Social media is not off-limits, and the other side has almost certainly already looked.
How to Prepare and How to Answer
Preparation is where depositions are won or lost. Your attorney should meet with you beforehand to walk through the likely topics and practice answering them. Review the key documents: the accident report, your medical records, and any statement you’ve already given to an insurance company.
The single most important rule is to answer only the question that was asked. Volunteering extra information is the most common mistake deponents make, and defense attorneys are trained to exploit it. If you don’t know the answer, say so. If you don’t remember, say that. Guessing creates a sworn record that can be used against you later. Listen to each question all the way through before answering, and if anything is unclear, ask the attorney to rephrase. You’re never required to interpret a confusing question on your own.
Stay calm, even if the questioning feels aggressive or repetitive. That’s often deliberate. The opposing attorney wants to see how you react under pressure, because a jury will see it too if the case goes to trial. Dress as you would for a job interview, arrive on time, and bring whatever documents your attorney told you to have on hand.
Objections and When You Can Refuse to Answer
Your attorney can object to questions during the deposition, and those objections are recorded in the transcript. Here’s the part that surprises most people: you still have to answer. The objection is preserved for a judge to rule on later, but the deposition keeps moving.2Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 30 – Depositions by Oral Examination
There are only three situations where your attorney can instruct you not to answer at all: when the question invades a privilege, when a court has already restricted the topic, or when your attorney needs to pause the deposition to ask a judge to intervene because the questioning is being conducted in bad faith.2Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 30 – Depositions by Oral Examination Objections themselves must be stated briefly and without coaching the witness; a lawyer who makes long, suggestive objections is violating the rules.
If the questioning crosses into harassment, any party or the deponent can move to terminate or limit the deposition, and if the person making the motion demands it, the deposition must be suspended while the court considers the request.2Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 30 – Depositions by Oral Examination
How Long It Takes and Whether It’s in Person
Federal rules cap a single deposition at one day of seven hours unless the parties agree otherwise or a judge orders more time.2Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 30 – Depositions by Oral Examination In practice, most personal injury depositions of the plaintiff or defendant run between two and four hours. Expert witness depositions sometimes hit the full seven. Each side is also limited to ten depositions total in a case without court permission. State court rules vary, so check the limits in your jurisdiction.
Depositions don’t always require everyone in the same room. The parties can agree to conduct one by telephone or video, or a judge can order it. For purposes of the rules, a remote deposition is treated as taking place wherever the deponent is sitting when they answer questions, which matters because the officer administering the oath must be authorized to do so in the deponent’s location.2Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 30 – Depositions by Oral Examination Virtual depositions became routine during the pandemic and have largely stayed that way.
Reviewing and Correcting Your Transcript
Many deponents don’t know they have this right. If you or your attorney requests it before the deposition ends, you get 30 days after being notified that the transcript is ready to review it and note any changes. You can correct errors in both form (typos, misheard words) and substance (a wrong date or an answer you realize was inaccurate). Each change must include the reason for the correction, and the original answer stays in the record alongside the change.2Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 30 – Depositions by Oral Examination
Don’t skip this step. Transcripts contain errors more often than people expect, and opposing counsel will use a wrong answer against you if you let it stand. Ask your attorney to remind you to request the review before the deposition wraps up.
How the Testimony Gets Used Later
The most common use is settlement leverage. Once both sides have transcripts in hand, they can evaluate the case realistically. A plaintiff who comes across as credible and sympathetic strengthens their position; one who was evasive or contradicted their own medical records weakens it. That is why most personal injury cases settle after depositions are complete.
If a witness says something at trial that contradicts what they said in their deposition, the opposing attorney can read the deposition answer aloud to the jury. This is called impeachment, and it’s devastating to credibility.3Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 32 – Using Depositions in Court Proceedings That is why consistency between your deposition answers and your trial testimony matters so much.
A deposition can also stand in for live testimony entirely if the witness is unavailable. The rules allow this when the witness has died, is more than 100 miles from the courthouse, can’t attend due to age or illness, or can’t be reached by subpoena, and in exceptional circumstances when justice requires.3Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 32 – Using Depositions in Court Proceedings Video-recorded depositions are particularly valuable here, because a jury gets to see the witness rather than hearing an attorney read from a transcript.
What Happens If You Don’t Show Up
Failing to appear for a properly noticed deposition is one of the fastest ways to damage a personal injury case. The other side will file a motion to compel, and if the court grants it, the no-show party or their attorney typically has to pay the other side’s legal fees for bringing the motion.4Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 37 – Failure to Make Disclosures or to Cooperate in Discovery; Sanctions
If someone defies a court order to appear or answer questions, the consequences escalate. A judge can treat disputed facts as established against the disobedient party, bar them from presenting certain evidence or defenses, strike all or part of their pleadings, hold them in contempt, or dismiss the case entirely if it’s the plaintiff (or enter a default judgment if it’s the defendant).4Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 37 – Failure to Make Disclosures or to Cooperate in Discovery; Sanctions For a plaintiff, that last option is worth taking seriously: refusing to cooperate with discovery can get your entire case thrown out.
Who Pays for It
The party that schedules the deposition generally pays the direct costs: the court reporter’s attendance fee, the original transcript, and any videographer. These expenses add up. Court reporter appearance fees commonly run from around $50 to several hundred dollars, transcript costs typically land at $4 to $5 per page, and a professional videographer can cost $100 to $375 or more depending on length and location. A full-day deposition with both a transcript and video can easily top $1,000.
The opposing side pays for their own copy of the transcript, their attorney’s time, and any separate recording they arrange. In personal injury cases handled on contingency, the plaintiff’s law firm often advances these costs and recovers them from the settlement or verdict. If you’re the plaintiff, read the deposition-cost language in your fee agreement before discovery starts so you know what comes out of your eventual recovery.