Estimate

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SUMMARY

You need to be able to estimate things in order to successfully testify. This is because it is rare for a person to remember facts precisely. However, if you give no response when you could have estimated, you fail to support your case or your defense. An estimate is not a guess. A guess is a response based on total lack of knowledge. You should not answer with guesses.

However, you should be able to estimate. For example, the author of this article is a human being. You may never have met the human being that wrote this article. However, you can estimate the author’s height within a range. Almost all adult human beings are between 3 & 1/2 feet tall and 8 feet tall. So, even though you may not know the human being who wrote the article you can estimate that the person who wrote this article is between 3 & 1/2 feet tall and 8 feet tall. Now, if you’ve seen me, and you can observe that I am not very tall and not very short, you may even be able to estimate that I am between 5’7 and 6’1”.

The point is you need to be able to estimate.

Estimating the first time something happened

A common question technique is to ask, when the first time something happened, or when was the most recent time something happened.

Question: When was the first time that you visited 123 Main Street?

Answer: I cannot say exactly the first time that I visited 123 Main Street, but viewed the property a couple of times before buying it, and I bought it around June of 2023, so sometime in June 2023 or maybe May 2023, or close to then.

Question: When was the first time that you spoke with John Doe?

Answer: I cannot say exactly when the first time that I spoke to John Doe, but I bought 123 Main Street around June of 2023, and I did not speak to John Doe until months after then.

Refresh your memory

Generally, the client will have filed a complaint, if they are a plaintiff, or provided written responses to discovery requests before the deposition or testimony. The client should read those questions and responses and be very familiar with the facts in those responses before giving oral testimony.

CONCLUSION

Because answering questions is an opportunity for the client to be able to impact the case, and answering questions is a chance to improve the case, the client should look forward to answering questions precisely. It is normal not to remember every detail, but you should be able to make estimates.

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