3 Mass. L. Rptr. 356 - Cholfin v. Gordon’s Empirical Analysis
1995
Citation profile
1 state decisions
Relationships
Relies on Societe Internationale Pour Participations Industrielles Et Commerciales, S. A. v. Rogers · Darden v. Wainwright · Hall v. Clifton Precision · Commonwealth v. Goldman · Gorovitz v. Planning Board of Nantucket
Most-quoted passages
The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 1 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“The underlying purpose of a deposition is to find out what a witness saw, heard, or did — what the witness thinks. A deposition is meant to be a question-and-answer conversation between the deposing lawyer and the witness. There is no proper need for the witness’s own lawyer to act as an intermediary, interpreting questions, deciding which questions the witness should answer, and helping the witness to formulate answers. The witness comes to the deposition to testify, not to indulge in a parody of Charles McCarthy, with lawyers coaching or bending the witness’s words to mold a legally convenient record. It is the witness — not the lawyer — who is the witness. As an advocate, the lawyer is free to frame those facts in a manner favorable to the client, and also to make favorable and creative arguments of law. But the lawyer is not entitled to be creative with the facts. Rather, a lawyer must accept the facts as they develop. Therefore, I hold that a lawyer and client do not have an absolute right to confer during the course of the client’s deposition.”
1 later decision quote this exact passage“A deposition is an extension of a judicial proceeding. It should be attended and conducted with the same sense of solemnity and the same rules of etiquette that would be required were the parties in the courtroom itself. The lawyer conducting the examination must ask questions and obtain answers — not demean, insult or hurl epithets at the opposing witness or counsel. The lawyer representing a witness must make objections, when objections are required, succinctly and with the same brief precision required during the trial itself. If either lawyer encounters what he or she perceives to be an impenetrable roadblock, the remedy provided by the rules is clear: The deposition should be halted until a judicial resolution can be obtained. Mass.R.Civ.P. 30(d). Self-help through bombast or insults is not an option.”
1 later decision quote this exact passage
How this case has been treated — in progress
Whether each later court followed, distinguished, criticized, or overruled this decision. The treatment classification (task #35) runs highest-cited cases first and lights up here as it reaches this one.