You’ve been hurt by a dog and hired a lawyer. Now your deposition is coming up. Hopefully your attorney has prepared you and told you what to expect in a dog bite deposition. Here are a few things I tell my clients in these types of cases.

Shortest Possible Truthful Answer

Imagine being pulled over by a cop. You are not sure exactly why the cop pulled you over and your put your hands on the wheel waiting to find out what’s going on. You see in your mirror the cop get out of his car and saunter over with supreme confidence like he know everything. The sound of his boots hitting the ground get louder and then he face appears next to your window. “Do you know why I pulled you over?” he asks. You pause for a beat. “Well, I don’t know but I’m really in a rush because it’s my Uncle’s birthday.” The cops nods while taking notes. “Did you have anything to drink?” Again, you stop to think. “I guess I had a beer at home, but that was like over an hour ago.” The cop squints his eyes at you and holds back a smirk. “Please step out of the car.”

The opposing attorney, the one taking your dog bite deposition, is like a cop fishing for reasons to arrest you. She has only one agenda: to ruin your case. She does this by asking lots of

questions, most of which she knows the answer, with the hope that you will say something that doesn’t make sense or is inconsistent with reality or records. For example, in a dog bite case, when asked “Did the dog bite you?” do not begin to explain that a dog jumped over a fence to attack you especially if you are not exactly sure where the dog came from. If it is physically impossible for the dog to jump over the fence, you are in trouble. Most of the time, these answers come from a client that wants to explain their side of the story or even argue rather than just answer the question.

So what is the solution? Only give the shortest possible truthful answer. Do not guess or speculate. For example, when asked “Did the dog bite you?” The correct answer is, “Yes.”

Get in the Head of Opposing Counsel

To help prepare for a deposition, I usually have my client imagine they are the opposing counsel. What does she want you to say to ruin your case? In a dog bite case, they are usually looking for testimony that you provoked the dog or doing something you weren’t supposed to be doing.

In a recent case, my client was visiting a friend. She was playing with his dog and then got onto the ground. There was a dispute about what she was doing. The dog owner said she was on all fours with her face near the dog’s face. My client said she was sitting Indian style on the ground and playing with the dog. Both sides agreed that the dog suddenly snapped at her face and bit her eyelid causing a terrible injury. The defense attorney in that case spent much of the deposition eliciting testimony to make it seem like my client provoked the dog to bite her. She knew it was coming and she handled the questions well, giving the shortest possible truthful answer. She did not get upset or argumentative. The case settled favorably after her deposition.

Click here are some more tips on winning your dog bite case.