This, from the San Antonio Employment Law Blog, happens to hit precisely at a time when I’ve been thinking a lot and piercingly about depositions.
In fact, I’ve been reading a lot of deposition transcripts. Although I haven’t yet given you my very own dissertation on being deposed—but I have talked several times about how important it is that plaintiffs attend their defendant’s depositions—I’ve been doing a lot of prep work for depositions and then sitting through them.
So let me say that this short, punchy piece about Lady Gaga’s deposition as a defendant in a lawsuit offers a heap of lessons on What Not To Do and Say When You Are Deposed. And Why Not to, etc.
Of course, celebrities are special events, and they consider themselves special. But sorry all you famous people: you are not special in legal proceedings. You just have to follow the rules because, celebrity or not, you too can lose a lawsuit. Hard to figure what Lady Gaga and other celebrities are thinking in these situations. Aren’t they listening to their own lawyers? Do they imagine that they are in a performance before a judge or a jury? Well, they are, but it’s not the kind of performance that caters to their strengths as flamboyant performers.
Here’s one particularly emphatic paragraph:
In a deposition, the witness should always remember that everything said can and probably will end up in front of a judge and jury. It is easy to forget during a deposition that the real audience is the judge and jury, not the opposing party and her lawyer. These statements will likely haunt Lady Gaga during her lawsuit. And, if she cannot document her assistant’s time better than when “I need you,” she may well lose this lawsuit.
Thank you, San Antonio Employment Law Blog! You did good: Lady Gaga Not Happy During Her Deposition : San Antonio Employment Law Blog.