9.3

Example of a Legal Interview

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INTRODUCTION

There is no one way to interview, but the example as provided in this section is a good one.

Some additional points regarding the example in the manual . . .

Introduction
Be polite when introducing yourself, and explain, if necessary, the purpose of the interview. Make sure that the witness is informed that the interview will be taped, if a tape recording is planned.

Background information
Generally, the firm will have an Intake Form that will ask for relevant background material. If not, ask for general historical information, such as:

• full name
• address
• phone number
• Social Security Number (this may be sensitive or not needed, depending on the subject matter of the interview)
• employment information
• emergency phone numbers
• medical background (if appropriate)
• other relevant information

Pre-event Stage
Once the tape recording begins, announce your name, the date, the location, the witnesses' name, and ask the witness if s/he is aware that the recording is being made. Notice that the questions follow a strict chronological order. And that the questions anticipate very fine increments of time, sometimes as fine as a minute by minute account of what happened.

Event Stage
Again, be "painfully chronological." If possible, ask questions that break the matter down minute by minute.

Post-event Stage
Don't take the Post-event stage for granted. You still need to ask fair, and aggressive, questions regarding the litigation.

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Paralegal Perspective . . .

INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
As a working paralegal, form books were incredible tools in preparing interview questions. Bender's Discovery Forms, for instance, provides sample interrogatories. These questions may be modified and used for interview purposes. The best book of all for interview and investigation assistance is Am. Jur. Proof of Facts. (Form books will be discussed in greater detail later in the program.)

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Lecture Notes . . .

Preparing your Interview Questions
You will find pages in the Manual that provide an example of questions prepared for interviewing a client. (They would have been suitable for a witness interview as well.)

For your assignment, you will prepare questions for interviewing either your client, or a fictional witness. The choice is yours. But the result should be similar to the example on these pages.

Some interview question lists will be longer than others. Some will not have post-event questions.

The manual provides an example of how the questions for an interview might be prepared. Notice that for each stage the questions attempt to be chronological in nature. In addition, they anticipate alternate possible responses. The interviewer should be prepared to eliminate questions that, because of information provided during the interview, are no longer relevant.

A good, and simple, technique is to cross the questions off as you go along.

In addition, it is good practice to tape record the interview (with client knowledge and approval) so that the interviewer does not have to keep notes. Instead, have a pen and paper ready to write down additional questions that come to mind during the interview. In some cases, it will be necessary to write while the interviewee speaks, so that the flow of the interview is not broken. Try not to interrupt the interviewee.






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Commonly Asked Questions . . .

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Exercise

Exercise
Interviewing