Law Technology

Should You Videotape a Doctor's Deposition?

The best surgeons are best at surgery. Some of them are good speakers, some of them can teach, some of them can educate. A lot of them can’t. While it’s important for everyone in every profession to be able to get their point across, not every one can.

It’s good enough for good doctors to be good doctors. However, we have to explain to the jury the mechanism of the injury, the treatment, causation of the injury and other medical issues to people unfamiliar with these topics.

Some doctors can explain things better, some can’t. It’s as simple as that. If I can’t have the doctor at trial, I would prefer to have a good, credible, well spoken doctor on videotape. If the doctor hems and haws, is uncertain of his or her opinions or has not reviewed the file, it’s probably better to just take the deposition and not videotape it.

David Ball is of the opinion that trials are human events and that it is better to read the deposition in to the record and have a live person read it, than have a talking head on a big screen.

I think in the long run it comes down to a judgment call.

Full post as published by South Carolina Trial Law Blog on February 03, 2009 (boomark / email).