If there is one thing nearly everyone can agree upon, it is that no one likes a bully. Nonetheless, the insurance defense industry continues to engage in bullying tactics, I believe much to their discredit.
I represent a young woman who is an elementary school teacher. She is a strong, independent, energetic woman. She is a really likeable person. My client was rear-ended on the freeway, twice, by two separate cars, just seconds apart. It was a very bad series of rear-end collisions, which sent her car careening into other lanes of traffic on the freeway. She was lucky to walk out of the car with her life.
As is customary after filing a lawsuit, my client was recently deposed so that the defense lawyers could learn about how the injuries she sustained have affected her life. When it came time to discuss the “harms” portion of the deposition, my client was asked perfectly permissible questions such as, “how did the accident affect your social life.” My client gave a perfectly good answer – summarizing here, of course – discussing how she had lost interest in various social and recreational activities, and how she had to be selective about certain activities with friends and family, due to later suffering from pain.
To my surprise, Mr. Defense Lawyer shouted, “Objection! Move to strike the answer as nonresponsive.” He thereafter began berating my client about how her answer was not correct. (Note: when I fought back, indicating the appropriateness of the answer, and the open-endedness of his question, Mr. Defense Lawyer also began berating me for my “speaking objection.”)
This moment was arguably one of the least effective cross-examination efforts I have seen. I understand that Mr. Defense Lawyer’s job is to conjure up doubt, or inconsistencies, or even try to catch my client exaggerating. Believe me, I understand Mr. Defense Lawyer’s biggest asset would be to discredit my client. In a lawsuit about sustaining injuries, your credibility is everything. However, know your audience! After all, this is 2024!
Our culture is trending toward openness and inclusivity. It is NOT tolerant of intimidation, especially not from an older man towards a younger woman, and certainly not when my client had been perfectly cooperative! It just didn’t work. In fact, the only thing that Mr. Defense Lawyer accomplished was complete alienation. I know this is true because at the end of the deposition (please know that this doesn’t happen very often), the court reporter and videographer – both women – said, unsolicited, “We support a strong woman, and I don’t know what he was talking about, your answers were totally responsive!” This was SO gratifying for my client to hear. I hope Mr. Defense Lawyer has learned a lesson.
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