Deposition Fears
Q: "
I recently had my deposition taken and it was horrible experience. Even though I had my attorney sitting nearby, the process was nerve-wracking and I felt attacked. I never want to go through that again.
I asked the attorney you hired to defend me if there was specific any language I could put in my report that would protect me from future depositions and the short answer was no. I understand that I might have to testify, someday, if I get sued. I just don’t want to have to go through another deposition, or get dragged into court to testify, just because I prepared an appraisal. Do you have any ideas?"
A:
I’m sorry, but there is no language that you can add to an appraisal that would protect you from the possibility of having to testify at a later date. Item #4 in your STATEMENT OF ASSUMPTIONS AND LIMITING CONDITIONS reads:
“The appraiser will not give testimony or appear in court because he or she made an appraisal of the property in question, unless the specific arrangements to do so have been made beforehand, or as otherwise required by law.”
If you are served with a subpoena to testify (either at a deposition or at a hearing), you must appear. There is no language you can add to a report that would supersede the force and effect of that subpoena.
To decrease the chance of involvement in litigation matters, you could avoid assignments where the report is being used to resolve a dispute or assignments that are more likely to be involved in litigation such as divorce or foreclosure reports.