Legal Research

"Deposition Tip: Help with Sniffing Out the Liars"

Posted by Evan Schaeffer: "From Forbes: "How To Sniff Out A Liar," by Melanie Lindner--

While there is no surefire on-the-spot way to sniff out dissemblers, there are some helpful tactics for uncovering untruths.

Liars often give short or one-word responses to questions, while truth tellers are more likely to flesh out their answers. According to a 2003 study by DePaulo, a liar provides fewer details and uses fewer words than an honest person, and talks for a smaller percentage of the conversation.

Skilled liars don't break a sweat, but the rest of us get a little fidgety. Four possible giveaways: shifty eyes, higher vocal pitch, perspiration and heavier breathing. Of course, not everyone who doesn't meet your gaze is a liar.

If you think this advice might be helpful to your deposition-and-trial practice, check out the full article. While not written specifically for lawyers, much of it applies to what trial lawyers do.

Related posts:

1. "Practice Tip: Assume Your Deposition Witness Is Lying."

2. "Cross-Examining the Liar at Trial: Two Absolute Prerequisites."

The active links are available at the source site listed below.

Full post as published by Stark County Law Library Blawg on August 11, 2009 (boomark / email).