The short answer
What Illinois families should know.
You can prepare with your lawyer before a deposition. During testimony, the answer must be your own. Illinois rules require concise legal objections and protect the integrity of questioning, including when everyone appears by video. A break is not permission to rehearse a better answer to a pending question.
Preparation should improve accuracy
Before the deposition, review the notice, relevant records, and discovery answers that may be discussed. Tell your lawyer where your memory is uncertain and which documents refresh it. Preparation can explain the process and identify factual inconsistencies that deserve correction. It should not supply a story that replaces your recollection. Identifying a date as approximate is more useful than an exact date invented under pressure. Discuss how to ask for clarification when a question combines several events or assumes something you dispute.
Objections have a limited role
Rule 206 requires objections to be concise and state their legal nature. Objections are not a channel for telling the witness what to say. Testimony is ordinarily taken subject to an objection, although privilege and requests for court protection can require additional analysis. Do not decide on your own that an uncomfortable question may be ignored. Pause so counsel can address the issue and follow the procedure established for the examination. A disagreement between lawyers does not change your obligation to answer truthfully.
Remote testimony still happens under oath
The committee comments to Rule 206 specifically address remote examinations. Counsel should instruct a deponent not to communicate with others during the examination or consult outside written or electronic information beyond material supplied by the examining lawyer. Private texts, unseen coaching, and extra screens can undermine testimony. Establish legitimate breaks and a way to raise a privilege concern before questioning starts. If illness, distress, technology, or another circumstance prevents reliable testimony, put the problem on the record and seek appropriate relief rather than silently continuing with outside assistance. Before the deposition, discuss how to request clarification, address privilege, and handle a needed break. Preparation should establish a lawful procedure without scripting testimony or supplying answers during questioning.
Prepare
Useful next steps
- Review records beforehand and distinguish memory from information learned from a document.
- Ask counsel to explain breaks and privilege concerns.
- Identify everyone in the room during remote testimony.
Avoid
Common missteps
- Messaging anyone for help while answering.
- Treating an objection as an invitation to change the facts.
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This article provides general information and is not legal advice. Laws, court rules, local procedures, and individual facts can change the analysis. Reading it or contacting the firm does not create an attorney-client relationship.