If the case had advanced to the discovery stage, a deposition might be scheduled.
What the defense attorney would want to know
• What made you [the plaintiff] fall; was it something that you should have seen or expected?
• Did you slip on a dangerous surface or an object that was out-of-place?
• Had there been any warning posted, close to the spot where you fell?
• Did you feel that there was sufficient lighting in the area where you slipped and then fell down?
• Why were you in that particular spot? Had you ever walked in that area before?
• Were you watching your steps, or were you paying attention to something else, during the moments before you fell?
• What sort of footwear did you have on your feet at that time?
• What part of your body hit the surface first, when you landed on the floor?
• Did you get injured during the slip and fall incident?
The personal injury lawyer in Richmond Hill for the plaintiff would get a chance to depose the owner of the property where the slip and fall incident had taken place. That owner would get questions like these:
• Have you assigned anyone the task of checking for problems on your property?
• If you do have such a person, how often do they survey your property?
• If you do have someone performing surveys, how do they communicate to you the nature of a discovered problem?
• Once a problem has been reported, how do you work to fix that area of your property?
• How do you get communications on any progress that has been made by those that are supposed to be fixing a given problem?
• Do you have any system in place for announcing the sudden development of a problem, such as creation of a wet spot on the floor?
• How old is this particular floor?
The above are possible questions. Understand that the lawyer for the other side would have the right to raise an objection to any question. However, there would be no judge to rule on the permissibility of that particular question.
Still, the person recording the deposition would record the fact that an objection had been raised. Hence the lawyer giving the deposition might have second thoughts about using the same question during any scheduled trial.
Both lawyers would have a chance to read the recorded questions and answers. Both lawyers would check for any inconsistencies in the answers that might be given to the same inquiries, during a scheduled trial.
In addition to the plaintiff and the property owner, one or more witnesses might also be deposed. The witnesses’ relation to the plaintiff or owner would determine what each of them might be asked.