Tennessee Injury Law Center

A deposition is an out-of-court sworn statement made during a lawsuit.  Typically, the lawyer representing the opposing party to a lawsuit will take your deposition to understand information you have about the case.  Witnesses to events giving rise to the case may also be asked to give a deposition.

A deposition usually takes place in a conference room at the offices of one of the lawyers that is involved in the case.  A person called a "court reporter" is present to administer the oath and to record the testimony.  It is possible that the deposition will be recorded by a videographer.

Under Tennessee law, a person who is involved in a lawsuit can be asked to provide information that is "reasonably calculated to lead to admissible evidence in the case."  That means that if you file a lawsuit or are sued in a lawsuit you can be asked questions that directly involve the facts of the case and also questions that may lead to information that might find its way to evidence at trial.

At the end of every Tennessee injury trial heard by jury the judge gives the jury instructions about the law applicable to the case.  Some judges prepare their own instructions; other judges ask the lawyers involved in the case to prepare the instructions.  Even if the judge does his or her own instructions the lawyers have the right to propose additional or alternative instructions to the judge, who reviews the proposed  instructions and determines whether they will be included in the final set of jury instructions.

Jury instructions tell the jury the law applicable to the case.  The jury uses the instructions to guide it in finding the facts.  Jurors are the "judges" of the facts in a case, and then take those facts and apply it to the law given to them by the judge.

Sometimes judges make mistakes in jury instructions.  If a judge makes a mistake, an appeal may result.  A mistake in the jury instructions can result in a new trial if the appellate court determines that the mistake affected the outcome of the trial.

Most contingent fee contracts between Tennessee injury lawyers and their clients have a provision that provides that the lawyer is reimbursed for travel expenses.  Such a clause in a contract is lawful, and will be enforced by a court.

However, if the contract does not have a clause that permits reimbursement for expenses,  it would not be appropriate for the lawyer to charge his or her client for these expenses unless he or she gets your express approval, preferably in writing, to incur those expenses that will ultimately charged to the client.

Are there limits to the amount of expenses that a lawyer can charge?  Yes, even if the fee contract does not put limits on the amount  of travel charges that the lawyer can pass on to a client the law will require that only "reasonable" expenses can be incurred.