Why Does My Fort Wayne Motorcycle Accident Lawyer Need to Do a Deposition?

October 4, 2025

Motorcycle accidents tend to inflict physically and financially catastrophic injuries at a disproportionate rate. Fortunately, you could be compensated if you get hurt through no fault of your own while riding a motorcycle in Fort Wayne, and you can improve your chances of success by partnering with an attorney who knows what evidence to assemble for your case. Some of the best evidence can be obtained when participants and witnesses are questioned under oath, so join us as we examine the value of sworn testimony if you are wondering “Why does my Fort Wayne motorcycle accident lawyer need to do a deposition?”

The Challenges Posed by Motorcycle Accident Cases

Motorcycle accident cases can pose distinct challenges that other personal injury claims might not. As with any kind of auto accident case, you will have to identify and go after every single defendant and prove that each of them was liable for your motorcycle accident if you hope to get justice. If you don’t, you could be forever barred from full fiscal recovery, as would a car or truck accident plaintiff, but you might be at an even greater disadvantage than a non-rider for two reasons.

First, because you aren’t as shielded as the occupants of other sorts of vehicles, you may be more likely to be rendered unconscious during a collision and thus less likely to recall what took place. Consequently, the driver who hit you may be in a position to either escape the scene of the accident or point the finger at you, and you might not be in a position to contradict that driver’s version of events.

Second, any defendants who played a role in your Fort Wayne motorcycle accident might be further aided in their attempts to evade responsibility by their insurance companies. Indeed, veteran insurance adjusters frequently exploit negative public sentiment about the perceived recklessness of motorcyclists to justify offering far less than these claims are worth or denying them altogether.

However, unscrupulous defendants can’t shift blame so easily when they are forced to tell the truth about what occurred. Obviously, any statement made under oath in a venue like the Allen County Superior Court has to be truthful or the speaker could be subject to perjury charges, but you don’t have to wait for a trial to compel accurate testimony if your attorney chooses to conduct a deposition.

How a Deposition Can Help After a Fort Wayne Motorcycle Accident

When a plaintiff files a personal injury lawsuit against a defendant in Indiana, the state’s Rules of Civil Procedure permit “any party [to] take the testimony of any person, including a party, by deposition upon oral examination.”

A deposition is a mechanism for gathering information pertinent to a lawsuit outside of a courtroom setting. The individual being deposed, known as the deponent, may either be a party to the lawsuit, such as the plaintiff or the defendant, or someone else whose testimony will have a direct bearing on the matter, such as an eyewitness, a medical provider, or an expert in a relevant field.

The lawyer seeking the deposition has to issue a formal summons to the deponent, and attendance is mandatory if the summons has been properly served. The deposition is usually held at a mutually agreed upon location, like a law firm’s conference room, and the attendees typically include the summoning attorney, the deponent, the deponent’s lawyer (if applicable), and possibly other interested parties.

There will also be a court reporter in the room to transcribe everything said during the deposition and, most importantly, to swear in the deponent before the deposition begins. This means that his or her testimony will be under oath and must therefore be as honest as it would be if it were given at trial. As such, a defendant who might have an incentive to falsely describe the circumstances leading up to your motorcycle accident won’t be allowed to do so here, since it would constitute perjury.

Basically, the risks of lying during a deposition so outweigh the benefits that the testimony secured is often indispensable at the negotiation table or in court, making depositions some of the most effective tools that skilled Fort Wayne motorcycle accident attorneys have at their disposal.

Get in Touch with Our Fort Wayne Motorcycle Accident Lawyers Now

Hensley Legal Group, PC is a dedicated Indiana personal injury law firm whose experienced attorneys have been fighting on behalf of the wrongfully injured since 1998. If your world has been upended by the thoughtless acts of a thoughtless actor in the Fort Wayne area, get in touch with our Fort Wayne motorcycle accident lawyers now to learn how they can set things right.

You can schedule a free consultation with a seasoned Fort Wayne motorcycle accident attorney by calling us at (317) 472-3333, chatting with us online, or filling out our contact form today.