When the Depo Gets Physical
From ReporterCentral, Jul 2000

One of my most memorable depositions happened several years ago. I was taking the deposition of a Plaintiff, a gentleman who was suing his former employer for unlawful termination. There were several attorneys involved, including the Plaintiff's attorney, who was notorious for disrupting proceedings. Whenever I encountered him, I always knew to be on guard.

Midway through the questioning of the Plaintiff, a defense attorney asked a question that the Plaintiff's attorney thought objectionable. The defense attorney refused to drop the question, and repeatedly asked it. After about the third time objecting, the Plaintiff's attorney said, in essence, ask another question or we're going to leave.

     PLAINTIFF'S COUNSEL: -- my client and I are going 
to leave and I'm putting him on notice right now.
     DEFENSE COUNSEL: I'm going to miss you when you're
gone.
     PLAINTIFF'S COUNSEL: You want to know something, 
they didn't miss you in South Africa at all and we don't
miss you in Italy and the Spanish Inquisition and Hitler
doesn't miss you either.

The questioning attorney, a white, Jewish man born in South Africa, jumped out of his seat, and headed around the conference table, right toward me (I always sat at the end to better see everyone). The Plaintiff, a rather large man, was seated next to me. He immediately stood up and put his arms out in front of him, which just happened to be over my head. I ducked as the Plaintiff and the defense attorney pushed and shoved each other over my head. All this time, I stayed on the record, because the Plaintiff's attorney had threatened me in the past not to go off the record unless he specifically said "off the record." The record continued:

     DEFENSE COUNSEL: What is that supposed to mean? 
What is that supposed to mean, the f***ing comment
about Hitler?
     PLAINTIFF'S COUNSEL: Let him hit me. I will have
you in jail, pal.
     DEFENSE COUNSEL: What is that supposed to mean
about Hitler?
     PLAINTIFF'S COUNSEL: Call [my son] and tell him
to get over here. Get [my son] over here immediately.

The scuffling actually caused my steno machine to fall over, but I caught it with my leg and continued writing, leaning way over in my chair to avoid the shoving above me.

To be honest, I found it all rather amusing and I was having a hard time not laughing. The conference room had a glass wall facing the receptionist, and she was jumping up and down watching us, reaching for the phone, trying to decide what to do. She looked at me panic-stricken, and I just shrugged and smiled at her.

Within a minute of so (it seemed more like an hour), another attorney in the room managed to get the scuffle stopped, and we took a short break to cool down. The Plaintiff's attorney ended up calling two younger, large attorneys from his office to come over "for his protection."

The defense attorney filed a complaint with our State Bar Association for the racial comments. The Plaintiff's attorney countered by filing a suit for assault and battery. And I ended up having my deposition taken for the first (and thankfully only) time! It was very strange to be on the other side for once. I ended up, essentially, standing by my transcript, since it was all on the record, and my attorney didn't allow me to get into editorializing. But I have to admit, I made the classic mistake -- I nodded my head in response to a question! Then I looked at the reporter (who happened to be someone I had gone to court reporting school with) and shrugged.

Lessons

When things get crazy, stay on the record as long as possible. If you ever end up on the witness stand, your transcript c an speak for itself.