In a medical malpractice case where our client suffered a traumatic brain injury, she was nervous about her upcoming deposition. She did not completely remember all the facts to give the best deposition answers, and as we waited for the deposition to start, she began visibly shaking. Her nerves were taking over, and a simple conversation with her was difficult. She couldn’t remember where she had a planned vacation we knew she was excited about. She couldn’t remember what she had for breakfast yesterday. She couldn’t remember her dog’s name. She was frozen.
I told her to take a big, deep breath. I reminded her what the three rules were (tell the truth, answer the questions asked, and be the nicest person in the room). She started to calm down, and we collected ourselves before heading into the deposition.
After the 4-hour session, my client asked, “How did I do?”
Our Client’s Fear
My client didn’t know whether she had done a good job. She was looking to me to give her feedback and tell her whether she helped her case or hurt it. She was also nervous that she had misspoken about some of her medical information.
How Garmey Law Helped
I told her that she was very nice and nailed rule #3. I told her that she asked for clarification when she needed it, and she was honest when she couldn’t remember something. The lawyer didn’t bother to refresh her recollection; they just left it and moved on. Then I asked her if she told the truth, and she said she did “to the best of my memory.” After that, she smiled, and she knew that she had done the 3 keys and that she had done a good job without me having to tell her. Once I saw that smile, I knew she would be okay. I told her that there were a few times when she gave longer answers than the questions asked, but she did not give them any information they did not already have. To the best of her ability, she had done a good job and had nothing to fear from that perspective. She helped her case, kept her composure, and showed the other side she was a nice, polite, kind woman who was badly hurt. Seeing her go from what can only be described as a crippling terror to sly confidence in a matter of hours was great. She thanked me for being there with her and helping her get past her fears.
