So, I thought I'd give you an idea of what I do all day at work. I'm doing depositions in asbestos litigation, as a defense attorney. Basically, when people allege that asbestos has made them sick, they file a lawsuit. At some point, their deposition is taken, which means 25 of us defense attorneys sit around in a room and ask them questions. It's not hard work.
The best part of doing these deps are the things that some of these folks say. Like the older gentleman who told us he had three children from his two marriages. Later in the dep, one of the other attorneys questioned that, thinking there were more. Turns out he had ELEVEN children total, 3 from his marriages and EIGHT from outside marriages. He didn't tell us about those kids because he didn't think we'd think they were important. Also, one day we deposed a wife and then the husband. When we asked the wife when they were married, she couldn't say and said "Oh my goodness, don't tell my husband." It was so funny. We ended up accidentally ratting her out when he asked her husband the question, and he knew immediately. We all ended up laughing and had to tell him why.
The best of all the things I've heard though was a guy who had worked for DTE in the 1970's and 1980's. When he quit DTE, he went to San Francisco for a few years. Part of the questions we ask in these deps are simple background questions, but a very important question that's asked if the person ever used tobacco products (hard for them to claim lung problems from asbestos if they've been a pack a day smoker for 40 years). This gentleman was asked if he ever smoked a pipe, he asked, HONEST TO GOD, "What kind of pipe?" We all immediately looked at each other and after the dep was over, asked each other if he meant a crack pipe or a bong pipe.
Later in the dep, we were going through his medical history, and he stated he'd have to have surgery on his nose years ago because he kept getting nosebleeds. But he couldn't say what the surgery was for. Keep in mind, earlier in the dep, he had stated that when he went to San Francisco, his health was not great, because "he didn't take very good care of himself." Okay, now tell me that that nose surgery wasn't to repair the damage he'd done by snorting cocaine. We all died afterwards.
Sometimes the deps are sad though. When the person who was sick has already died, we depose the personal representative of the estate, usually an adult child. And more often than not, these children know absolutely nothing about what their parents did at work, or even where they worked. A lot of times, they know nothing about their parent's (usually the father) own parents, don't even know what their grandparents names were, or where they were born. Frequently, these kids don't even know if their own parent had cancer or heart problems. It is so depressing, it makes you want to ask if they even knew their parents at all. And, sadly enough, the answer is, probably not. They're just in it for the money.
But, that's what I do all day. Sit around and listen to people's crazy life stories, and occasionally ask a few relevant questions. Easy!
The best part of doing these deps are the things that some of these folks say. Like the older gentleman who told us he had three children from his two marriages. Later in the dep, one of the other attorneys questioned that, thinking there were more. Turns out he had ELEVEN children total, 3 from his marriages and EIGHT from outside marriages. He didn't tell us about those kids because he didn't think we'd think they were important. Also, one day we deposed a wife and then the husband. When we asked the wife when they were married, she couldn't say and said "Oh my goodness, don't tell my husband." It was so funny. We ended up accidentally ratting her out when he asked her husband the question, and he knew immediately. We all ended up laughing and had to tell him why.
The best of all the things I've heard though was a guy who had worked for DTE in the 1970's and 1980's. When he quit DTE, he went to San Francisco for a few years. Part of the questions we ask in these deps are simple background questions, but a very important question that's asked if the person ever used tobacco products (hard for them to claim lung problems from asbestos if they've been a pack a day smoker for 40 years). This gentleman was asked if he ever smoked a pipe, he asked, HONEST TO GOD, "What kind of pipe?" We all immediately looked at each other and after the dep was over, asked each other if he meant a crack pipe or a bong pipe.
Later in the dep, we were going through his medical history, and he stated he'd have to have surgery on his nose years ago because he kept getting nosebleeds. But he couldn't say what the surgery was for. Keep in mind, earlier in the dep, he had stated that when he went to San Francisco, his health was not great, because "he didn't take very good care of himself." Okay, now tell me that that nose surgery wasn't to repair the damage he'd done by snorting cocaine. We all died afterwards.
Sometimes the deps are sad though. When the person who was sick has already died, we depose the personal representative of the estate, usually an adult child. And more often than not, these children know absolutely nothing about what their parents did at work, or even where they worked. A lot of times, they know nothing about their parent's (usually the father) own parents, don't even know what their grandparents names were, or where they were born. Frequently, these kids don't even know if their own parent had cancer or heart problems. It is so depressing, it makes you want to ask if they even knew their parents at all. And, sadly enough, the answer is, probably not. They're just in it for the money.
But, that's what I do all day. Sit around and listen to people's crazy life stories, and occasionally ask a few relevant questions. Easy!
1 comment:
Very interesting. It is totally sad that someone would not know anything about their family! Those rats!
Hope you get some more great stories!!
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