Conducting Discovery by Focusing on Witnesses

A tip from "A Snipe-Hunter's Guide to Coaxing Answers from Hostile Witnesses," by Judge Ron Spears--

From the beginning, keep a separate folder on each potential witness and maintain a list of facts that witness may be able to testify to and how it could help or hurt your case. Craft questions throughout discovery that will fully elicit the adverse witness's knowledge on those important issues before trial and especially during depositions, always with an eye to use at a later proceeding.

As Spears points out, "You cannot impeach with a question never asked or an answer never given."

The full article can be found in the May, 2009, issue of the Illinois Bar Journal (available online only to ISBA members).

Comments

[Jim Allen]

Excellent Article. I have long utilized the folder-per-witness approach, and use it to collect everything related to each witness: reports, criminal records, statements, etc.

I also write to point out that the IBJ is available via Westlaw. I would expect that it would also be available on Lexis-Nexus, and wonder whether it is available on the new Google Legal Journals database.