There's an old adage among lawyers - Never ask a question of a witness you don't know the answer to during a trial.
That also applies during an arbitration.
Claimant's attorney had a claimed star witness, he was supposed to testify early Thursday morning. Claimants attorney even stated he was so important may have to even suspend the arbitration as he had trouble getting the witness to appear especially as the witnesses wife had just been in a car accident that very morning.
I certainly didn't want to suspend the arbitration so we all agreed the witness could appear just via voice on the phone. My clients knew his voice in any case.
One of the many claims claimant made was about some machines and his claim was they didn't work for the purpose they were sold by my client to be used by his client and others.
So we get his star witness on the line.
After a few questions about some other technical areas the going after that don't lead to much the claimant's attorney asks him:
"How well did the machines work?"
His star witnesses answer: "They worked great!".
Too bad you weren't there to see the look on his face at that answer. Priceless.
He persists: "But didn't they break down?"
His star witnesses answer: "Oh, there was some normal wear and tear, but nothing that was their fault".
To rub it in a bit there was just one question from me for that witness, "I just went to be sure we all heard you right, you said the machines worked great?"
"Yes", he said "Yes, they did".
No further questions.
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