Legal deposition regrets? I’ve got a few.
You know what’s funny? Civil litigation.
Of course, litigation is rarely a barrel of monkeys. But on this Change of Venue Friday, take a moment to marvel at the wonders of a deposition. Part of the “Verbatim” series that I’ve mentioned before, the video is a production of the New York Times. Yes, it casts actors, and yes, it’s a movie set. But the script? Taken verbatim from depositions in civil litigation.
In a New York Times video drawn from a real deposition transcript, a poultry farmer gets his beak out of joint.
As the editors describe the project:
“The series, presented by Op-Docs, transforms verbatim (word for word) legal transcripts into dramatic, and often comedic, performances. Here you will find re-creations of actual events from the halls of law and government. You, our readers, can help us find material for future episodes. Have you come across court trials, depositions or government hearings that you think are surprising, bizarre or baffling—and lend themselves to performance? We especially seek original, publicly available transcripts, along with details about the source. Email us at opinion.video@nytimes.com and include “Verbatim” in the subject line.”
The video I share today depicts a 2001 case that sounds in trespass and tort. There, a Mississippi man sued a lumber company for damaging his chicken pasture. He sought $300,000.
Sounds normal enough? It kind of goes south at 01:23, when he asserts that he knows where Osama bin Laden was in the world. And it gets worse.
Let’s just say the deponent went a little free-range himself. Enjoy the video.
Have a wonderful—and poultry-free—weekend.
Faced with a bird-crazed deponent, the attorney rethinks his life choices. (Been there?)
AZ Attorney 
May 21, 2016 at 8:21 am
That was beautiful.