Region VI Webinar – Surviving a Deposition

Topic Surviving a Deposition

If you have ever been called upon to give your statement about the events of an accident, an injury, or illness, you probably wondered if you would ever be called to testify under oath in a deposition or court.  The fact is the truth can be confusing when multiple people give statement of their account from many different perspectives of responsibility and direction of observation.  So which statement is accurate and which statement is true, and are they the same thing?  Now add two attorneys; one for the plaintiff and one for the defense, and the questions get really had to distinguish and you find yourself second guessing your initial statements.  Even worse yet is being called to provide expert witness testimony from your years of experience that someone wants to dissect carefully to discredit or cast suspicion on.  How do you prepare to undergo such personal and professional cross examination?

During this webinar I would like to offer some commonsense techniques USING A CASE STUDY to help prepare you for a deposition.  First, I must say that no two deposition are alike, and the intensity or depth of the inquiry differ greatly, but these simple steps can help.

Prepare for a deposition

• How to organize files provided is critical and often they are sent in several formats and differing times.
• Creating a couple different functioning timelines.
• Creating lists of individual and company names, places, key events
• Knowing what to commit to memory.

Craft Arguments with your Attorney

• Ask your attorney what key information is required to help him
• Research all applicable regulations and consensus standards; by number and title, including letters or interpretations.
• Research all similar events or situations where industry practices or standards were applied
• Following up with attorney prior to beginning to creating a formal written documents

Listen to the questions

• What is the question being asked?
• What is the attorney’s objective or how is the information going to be used.
• Response on the fly to similar questions asked from different perspectives.

Instructor Guy Campion, MS, CSP, CHST, REP

Mr. Campion provides technical assistance to Ctgroup EHS (Sept 2002-present) and its Clients and operational staff.  He is responsible for preparing and reviewing technical documents related to industrial hygiene, environmental compliance, and OHSA safety.  As the Safety and Environmental Director, he has over sight on a variety of construction, industrial and commercial projects to include biological cleanups, remediation of subsurface contaminants, hazardous materials responses, and UST/AST installations and removals.  He has reviewed hundreds of Hazard Analysis (SHA, JSA, AHA), Safety Plans, and Crane Plans. He also is responsible for the daily proposal generation, client assistance and education, corporate safety management and training.  He has 30 years of experience conducting environmentally related projects in the field of industrial hygiene, and occupational safety and health training.  He has served over 32 years in the US Army and Army National Guard, with 30 years as a Chemical and Biological Warfare Specialist & Intelligence Officer.

Registration: https://region6.assp.org/events/assp-region-vi-webinar-series-case-study-lunch-and-learn-2/