Shane Read has a gift, as evidenced by his earlier Winning at Trial, to convey in an interesting and enjoyable style, all you ever wanted and needed to know about taking or defending a deposition. . . . One of the more important responsibilities of a General Counsel is to find the best litigator available when your client company is faced with a troubling lawsuit. You reassure your senior management and Board of Directors that you have selected expert, experienced outside counsel and all will be well. You then join your outside counsel in a key deposition and will likely either decide on the spot that he is all you hoped he would be or you wonder if he has ever taken a deposition before. I would strongly recommend to in-house and outside counsel that they read Winning at Deposition. It will likely come to be known as the bible for taking and defending a deposition. I can strongly encourage any lawyer who wishes to win at trial that he read this book.

This is a much, much needed addition to lawyering skills literature. Winning at Deposition should help new lawyers and seasoned advocates alike significantly improve their deposition skills. The book makes excellent use of examples from high profile cases to illustrate what lawyers strategically should do in a deposition – as opposed to simply telling them what can be done. Winning at Deposition encourages lawyers to conduct a purpose driven deposition, demonstrating quite effectively that more often than not, less is more. A terrific companion to Shane Read’s Winning at Trial, the book includes great practice tips that very succinctly capture the explanatory text. This book should be on every litigator’s shelf.

I have been a trial lawyer for 50 years and have taken about as many depositions as any living lawyer and with as great a variety of witnesses as are involved in litigation. I find that Winning at Deposition is a superb reference for lawyers of all levels. Mr. Read’s suggestions for difficult witnesses are amazing tools. The inclusion of portions of actual depositions of witnesses and parties from some of the most significant litigation in our lifetime is helpful beyond description. A copy of this book will remain in my library as long as I practice.

Winning at Deposition won the highest award available for legal publications: ACLEA's Award for Professional Excellence. The book won first prize from a field of over 300 entries submitted by continuing legal education publishers from across the USA.

Winning at Deposition is a cutting-edge litigation masterpiece.

No matter how many depositions you have taken or defended, or how good you think you are, Shane Read’s Winning at Deposition is a must read. It is the most informative and entertaining ‘how to do it’ book for trial lawyers I can ever remember reading.

Winning at Deposition is an engaging read that expertly conveys both technical and practical information about the science and art of depositions in an entertaining and easy to navigate format.

Few other how-to books that I’ve seen pack as much punch as this one.

In every respect, D. Shane Read’s book skillfully summarizes the art and science of taking depositions.