In regards to objections made during the deposition process, the rules were changed about 20 years ago. The rules require that lawyers are only able to object to the form of the question or to instruct their client not to answer the question if the question is abusive or the answer will violate a privilege. If a lawyer objects to the form of the question, the other attorney can demand an answer to the question if they want to do so. Otherwise, “objection to the form of the question” is all the attorney may say.
How Many Objections are Made Throughout a Deposition?
During a deposition, lawyers typically expect some objections to be made. Objections are often made for things like leading, hearsay, and other evidentiary issues. Younger, inexperienced lawyers and lawyers defending a strong case by their opponent tend to object a lot for very little reason. When lawyers are asking legitimate questions about how an incident happened, such as where everyone was or who else saw it, most lawyers will not object. When an attorney repeatedly objects to the most mundane and matter-of-fact questions, an experienced lawyer can use the objections at trial to make their opponent look like he is attempting to hide relevant evidence from the jury.
