When a hearing is scheduled in your Workers’ Compensation case, there is a good chance that your deposition will be scheduled as well. At your deposition, the attorney that represents the workers’ compensation insurance company will ask you a lot of questions about your injury. If you have an attorney representing you in your case, that attorney will be there as well and can object to the questions that the insurance company’s attorney asks.
Is a Deposition Important?
A deposition is the opportunity that Georgia law provides for the insurance company to find out about your case. It is a very important part of your case because your answers at a deposition are given under oath.
This means you will swear to tell the truth before your deposition starts. If you do not tell the truth, the insurance company’s attorney will use those answers against you in court.
This could cause the judge not to believe you. If the judge does not believe you, you will probably lose your case. So, you want to make sure that you are prepared for your deposition.
Do I Have to Hire an Attorney for my Deposition?
You do not have to have an attorney to go to court. You also do not have to have an attorney to go through a deposition.
However, it is important to understand that depositions and workers’ compensation court are tricky. In your deposition, there are special rules regarding the questions that the insurance company’s attorney can ask. Attorneys are familiar with those rules.
The rules regarding depositions are currently found in the discovery portion of the Georgia Civil Practice Act. If you are not familiar with those rules, you will probably find yourself at a disadvantage in a deposition. There are also additional special rules that apply when your case goes to court.
Besides knowing the rules about what questions can be asked during a deposition, an attorney can also help prepare you for a deposition by going over some of the most common mistakes that people make. I believe that preparation gives you the best chance to succeed in your case.
The insurance company will often try to get information at your deposition to convince the judge in your case that you should not be believed. For example, attorneys representing insurance companies know that most injured workers fail to give complete answers to some questions at their depositions. This is usually unintentional, but it is difficult for a judge to know whether it is intentional or not.
Leaving something out can hurt your case because it can look to a judge like you are trying to hide something because you are afraid it will hurt your case. This could cause the judge not to believe you. Once again, if the judge does not believe you will probably lose your case.
What if I have other questions about workers compensation?
Georgia’s workers compensation system can be very confusing. You have to worry about getting the treatment you need and paying your bills while also worrying about not missing any deadlines that could cause you to lose your right to receive workers compensation benefits.
If you have questions, I would recommend that you try to get answers. To find out more about how to schedule a time to talk to me about your workers compensation questions, just read this short article.
Jason Perkins is an attorney who specializes in representing injured workers. He regularly publishes videos and write blog articles about Georgia’s workers compensation system and issues that are important to injured workers and their families.
To be notified of Jason’s new workers compensation videos, subscribe to his Georgia Workers Compensation Video Series channel on YouTube by clicking the subscribe button below.
Amazing! Jason and his team were very helpful and had the best communication by far. Walked me though every step with great detail and had answers for any question I had. They handled my case better then I could imagine, it was a weird case and they stayed on top of it and kept me updated every step of the way! Highly recommend this Team! Thanks so much to Jason and his Awesome team!-Brittney
I absolutely love this group of attorneys, when I was at my lowest they did everything they could to help me get justice for my injury. I believe if I were to have never picked my phone up and called the amazing group that helped me I definitely would not have received my idea of rights. If you have an issue and are just not sure please understand that they will help you, stay in contact, answer any question you have, and for sure get you the justice you deserve I thank them from the bottom of my heart and I will definitely refer them to anyone who has been hurt because they most definitely care about their work and clients.
If you must get a lawyer involved, you’d do well to work with Jason Perkins and his team at Perkins Studdard Law.They were thorough in gathering information and in sharing all the steps in the workers comp process specific to my case. Jason and the team were responsive to my bevy of questions and concerns.I appreciated the informative videos and consultations provided by Jason over video meetings and multiple phone calls.I hope I’m never injured on the job again. However, if I am and if my employer responds as my previous employer did, I’ll contact Perkins Studdard Law immediately to handle the case.
Everyone at Perkins Studdard was kind and professional. They were always extremely responsive and answered all questions that I had and followed up to make sure I had an understanding of what was going on along with emailing videos to explain every step of my case so I would know what to expect and be prepared. Jason is a very genuine person and I trusted him with my case. He answered so many questions for me even before I retained him as my WC lawyer. I highly recommend him and his associates at Perkins Studdard.
