– It is unlikely that many of your litigators* take HIGH-quality adverse depositions … yet, it’s the quality of the “competing adverse depositions” (your side’s vs. your opponent’s) that most dramatically determines case outcome: settlement or trial.
– No litigator – not even “the Michael Jordan of the courtroom“* – takes HIGH-quality adverse depositions without first mastering the logic of deposition cross-examination … and mastering the dozens of RULES that flow from it.
– Few law firms teach this logic; instead, they typically offer (expensive? / multi-day?) entry-level depo “skills” training re (a) how to interact with the witness (giving admonitions, building rapport, and gathering info … the latter “learned” through a few pretend sessions of “who – what – when – where – why – how – anything else?”); (b) how to interact with the opposing attorney (dealing with objections and obstructionism); (c) how to interact with the court reporter (making a record and managing exhibits and time); and (d) how to interact with technology in the age of Zoom. Sure, all nice stuff for newbies to know, but woefully inadequate for crafting case-changing, ready-to-reenact-at-trial deposition Q&A of a fact-witness or an expert who wants your client to lose the case … and is quite prepared to commit perjury in furtherance of that goal.
– When depo training maxes out at entry-level “skills,” mediocre adverse depositions abound.
– My programs teach the crucial discipline of deposition cross-examination. [See 5,000+ rave Reviews from newbies and senior litigators.]

* I’ve been in awe of BRILLIANT David Boies’s legal career since 1998, and remain so. In 2009, I created a 6.5 hour CLE program devoted exclusively to the analysis of Boies’s universally-lauded, 3-day deposition of Bill Gates in the US vs. Microsoft antitrust case … called it: “The Anatomy of A ‘Superstar’ Deposition.”  Taught it around the country to several thousand litigators.  At every presentation, I (eventually) revealed to the audience my judgment re the quality of that depo: “It’s an embarrassment to the art of cross-examination.”  No attendee ever disagreed, nor could they … cuz it ain’t a close call.
Point: Given that “brilliant and tireless … the greatest trial lawyer alive” David Boies failed [yes, failed!] to take a HIGH-quality depo of the most important adverse witness in the biggest antitrust case since the breakup of Standard Oil (1911), the vast number of less renowned litigators have undoubtedly failed in their important depositions … and will continue to fail for the rest of their careers … until they learn the logic (& RULES) of deposition cross-examination.