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Witness Guide
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Witnesses' Guide is an inexpensive, sensible way to avoid the most common major mistakes witnesses make when they give testimony in the U.S. or Canada. A copy of Witnesses' Guide should be given to each person headed for the witness stand. Telling your story The problem is how to tell our side of the story to strangers when we know how difficult just getting our family and friends to understand what we are trying to tell them. The thought of a hostile attorney firing trick questions at us in front of a crowded courtroom causes terror in the bravest. Our problems are further aggravated if the outcome of our case depends heavily on the testimony of other witness's. Our strongest supporters can turn into our worst legal nightmare in a matter of minutes under the skilled questioning of the opposition's attorney. A marginal witness with important testimony could destroy your entire case. A negative legal decision can alter the rest of our lives or be a matter of enormous amounts of money. Big corporations employ skilled seasoned professionals who spend many hours and a great deal of money preparing their witnesses for deposition and court in order to minimize potential damage and maximize their witnesses testimony. Most of us do not have the experience in court or vast company resources. Pre-Appearance Interview The average pre-appearance interview time an attorney spends with a witness before testimony is less than an hour. There is virtually no actual `witness testimony preparation' time before most appearances. Consequently a witness without proper understanding and expectation is subject to fear and surprise which will prevent the witness from doing a proper job. Even the most dedicated attorney cannot completely prepare you and each of your witnesses for this important experience. Since you have the most to gain or lose you must make sure you and your witnesses produce the results you need.
Foreword for Witness Guide Going to testify at deposition or at trail can be frightening. A few people rise to the challenge but most shrink from it. The court and players are intentionally intimidating. It is their game and you are an observer rather than a player. It has been said that people can be divided into three groups: those who make things happen, those who watch things happen and those who wonder, what happened? The adversary system of justice is a team sport made up of three sets of participants: 1. Those who make things happen: the judge and the opposing attorneys. 2. Those who watch things happen: the bailiff, stenographer, clerk of the court, jury, gallery, and witness. 3. Those who wonder what happened : the plaintiff and defendant who are paying for it all: who must live with the outcome. You may be in group two or three. This easy-to-read guide will take you by the hand, step-by-step, through the mysterious judicial process. The reading is interesting, entertaining and fun. You will learn so much about the judicial system that your deposition or court appearance will be anticlimactic. You will have a sense of deja vu (been there before). This is because this book tells you all of the challenges you might run into and you will not have to face them all. Lawyers and judges go to school to learn the judicial game. You have this book. Good reading, good learning and good luck. --by Dan Poynter. Mr. Poynter is an expert witness in parachute design and skydiving practice. Of his 27 books, seven are on parachutes and skydiving and he has worked as an expert on scores of cases and has testified numerous times in the past 15 years and is .author of "The Expect Witness Handbook" Mr. Poynter highly recommends "Witnesses' Guide to Testifying for Deposition or Court" for the lay person facing these daunting tasks. |
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