Most of the injury lawyers in Red Deer use these tools when gathering evidence during the discovery process.
What do the lawyers want to discover?
• What a given witness saw, heard or did at the time of the disputed incident
• The identity of anyone that might know something about the same incident.
• Any documents that might relate to the dispute
• The background of the different witnesses
Some information remains protected, because it was disclosed during a privileged conversation.
• Such as a conversation between a husband and wife
• Such as a conversation between a lawyer and a client
• Such as a conversation between a doctor and a patient
The protection extends to all conversations that took place between a religious adviser and the advisee. Here the term religious adviser refers to a member of the clergy. This protection fails to take into account the existence of faith groups in which there is no clergy.
What procedures provide lawyers with their evidence-gathering tools?
Depositions: That is when one or more lawyers question selected witnesses. A stenographer records the questions and answers. A lawyer’s review of the answers from a given witness could serve as a guide, during creation of questions for that same witness at the time of the trial.
An attorney might use a deposition as a means for judging how a given witness would appear to the jury at the time of the trial. Sometimes an attorney’s observations could cause him/her to refrain from putting the same witness on the stand, before the eyes of a jury.
Requests for production of evidence: One party would pose such a request, in hopes of obtaining specific evidence from the other party.
Interrogatories: Written questions with written answers. Any of those answers could be used during the trial. Each answer holds the same weight as one that was given under oath.
Requests for admission: One party is asked to admit to certain facts under oath
The judge receives all of the information that was gathered during the deposition. If either side wants to introduce new information during the trial, it must receive an ok from the judge, before it can reveal that new material to the jury.
Hence, a request for introduction of that new material could lead to an exit of the jury from the courtroom. That would allow the judge to hear the lawyer’s arguments for and against presentation of the new material.
One side might choose to settle, on the basis of a judge’s ruling, regarding new evidence. In that case, the lawyers and the judge would probably retreat to the judge’s chambers. Judges are always ready to accommodate a request to settle, so that the trial could come to an end.