Lacambra vs First Team Realty et al
I've been preparing for a Deposition scheduled for tomorrow morning in Los Angeles. A Deposition is a formal proceeding that lawyers use to get a sworn statement from a witness. It is part of the "Discovery Process" and is usually held at a law office and comes in the form of a question and answer session. It is attended by a court reporter who records all that is discussed unless directed otherwise. Court Rules limit a Deposition to 7 hours per day without lunch or breaks. In a way it's almost like being interrogated. This takes away any surprises during trial. But attorneys also use this to impeach a witness by comparing what was said at the Deposition with what a witness is testifying on the stand during trial. If they contradict each other, the opposing counsel can point to the inconsistency and even call the witness a liar.
At the last moment, I discovered that the mailing address that they used for the notice is incorrect. Although, it eventually arrived at my PO Box, the time to respond and prepare was shortened considerably because the mail had to take a circuitous route. In the parlance of the law that is called "Defective Service".
I have been looking for a way to avoid this for the time being. I haven't finished my discoveries just yet and have much of the facts to verify for accuracy. Plus, you'll never know how prepared you are until you start being questioned. But more importantly, I have no way of getting there - no gas and no bus fare - at least not enough to get me there. That's about a 60 mile trip, one way. So I should expect to receive an "Order to Show Cause" for not showing up in the next few days. If it were a different attorney, I would give them a benefit of a courtesy call, that is if I had enough minutes on pre-paid phone to spare. But I have been the recipient of all sorts of lawyerly tricks from this law firm that I now have cause to seek sanctions myself. I'll let them figure it out themselves.
