Helpful Advice If You Are Called To Provide Testimony At A Deposition
In any type of civil litigation, whether a personal injury case, a probate court case involving a relative’s will or trust, a business dispute with customers or other owners, or a matrimonial case, a party or an important observer may be called to provide testimony at a deposition. A deposition is being questioned under oath often by the opposing attorney, outside court, usually in a law office or a court stenographer’s office. The judge is not present although she is usually accessible by telephone. The deposition is conducted by the lawyers and the court reporter who transcribes all questions, answers, and legal objections. In many cases the lawyers’ perceptions of how this deposition testimony will impact the judge or jury determines whether the case goes to trial or serious settlement discussions occur.
In preparing to give testimony under oath at a deposition it is very important to review the issues and likely questions with your attorney in advance. This is not meant to modify or conceal the truth. Every witness is under oath to … Read More... “Deposition Tips: Not Just An Ordinary Conversation!”
Since the beginning of the recent housing crisis, I have had the experience of working with clients who have fallen behind with mortgage payments which resulted in the mortgage lender filing a foreclosure action with the Court. This course of events often leads to the filing of a personal bankruptcy action to discharge the mortgage indebtedness. In order to get the information to write this article, I chose to interview my son, who will be known as CS, and a divorce client, who will be known as RP. CS and RP have some commonalities: (1) both had experienced a divorce proceeding; (2) both had experienced a decline in the value of their homes causing them to be “upside down”; and, (3) both of them had support obligations (child support or spousal support) resulting in each having less disposable income with which to pay their monthly mortgage payments. Having a house be “upside down” simply means that the amount of the mortgage balance is far greater than the actual fair market value of the home. Both … 
Since divorce attorneys, like the rest of the population, do not have a crystal ball, making decisions regarding whether spousal support should be modifiable in the future are difficult. This is a very crucial area where individuals trying to navigate through a termination of their marriage without an attorney can run into huge problems.
It is now almost 5 years since Ohio’s long-term care partnership program was implemented in order to allow Medicaid participants to protect more of their assets from the Medicaid spend down process. With the rising cost of long-term care and the effect that the recession has had on most individual’s savings, this program is more valuable than ever. A long-term health care insurance policy that meets certain criteria can provide tremendous savings and asset protection against future health care needs by allowing an individual to shelter an amount of assets equal to the amount of coverage under the policy.
The lazy, hazy days of summer are coming to an end, as a new school year is quickly approaching. My wife, a school teacher of 30 plus years, suggested that we post an article about this topic of starting the school year well. So with her help, here it is.
A recent study identifies the nation’s most dangerous traffic intersection. It’s at Flamingo Road and Pines Boulevard in Pembroke Pines, Florida. The insurance company’s engineer who compiled the report notes that the intersection meets appropriate design standards and is regulated by traffic lights. He said traffic volume and driver error were two important factors in the high number of crashes.
“I am in the divorce process up to my elbows. I have paperwork for my lawyer, deadlines for my job, parent conferences for my kids, friends coming for dinner. I have a birthday party to plan, a lawn to mow, a dog with fleas. I haven’t slept more than five hours a night for months. My grey hairs are coming in with a vengeance and my skin is breaking out. Most of the food in my refrigerator looks like science experiments. I have no idea of world events, latest movies, or current songs. I have to get my kids to soccer practice, karate and guitar lessons. I have grocery shopping, vet appointments, orthodontics appointments, child therapy appointments, ob-gyn appointments. I have appointments with my lawyer, my accountant, my therapist. I have appointments with my children’s lawyers and therapists. I even have an appointment to sit down and talk with my soon to be ex- husband about vacation schedules! I need to get the house painted. The car is making a clanking noise of undeterminable origin. The …