The deposition of a corporation through its “corporate representative” can be perilous in any case. Such a deposition can go badly for many of the same reasons as any other deposition, but the obligations and consequences of the corporate representative deposition process present additional risks. Although no deponent should go into a deposition unprepared, a corporate representative has an affirmative obligation to prepare thoroughly and become conversant with all information “known or reasonably known” to the corporation about pre-selected, designated topics. The topics covered by such a deposition can encompass information contained in perhaps thousands of documents, as well as information known to sometimes many different present, and possibly, former employees. A corporate deposition may be the only mechanism during the course of a case through which a corporation can tell its story through a single witness. When that story is not well-told, or worse, is torn apart by a talented opposing counsel, the deposition can live on in case after case.

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