In When and How to Object During Deposition, Art of Advocacy blogger Paul Mark Sandler writes that in civil litigation, “objection-free depositions are unheard of.” Attorneys often make unnecessary objections or fail to make them properly when dealing with parties in the case and the opposing expert witness. Sandler says attorneys sometimes waive objections by failing to raise them in a deposition and offers some helpful guidelines for knowing when and how to object.
2. Incurable Defects
Many substantive objections cannot be resolved by a simple rephrasing. If an attorney asks about irrelevant matters, the questions will usually be objectionable no matter how the attorney poses them. For such an “incurable” defect, a timely objection is not necessary under Maryland Rule 2-415(g).Where the interrogating lawyer asks a question that contains a substantive, “incurable” defect, opposing counsel can raise the objection when the deposition testimony is offered at trial, or as an exhibit to a motion. Might there be advantages of waiting until trial to raise objections? In some instances, yes. If the objection cuts to the heart of the adversary’s case, lodging it at trial could help diminish the opposing counsel’s courtroom ethos.