How an administrative error sent me across town to the wrong deposition address
I arrived at the address where my google maps had taken me, but the problem was… there was no building there. It was a parking lot. Sometimes google maps does that. When you put in an address, it will take you to that address (or where it thinks that address is), even though there may actually not be anything there.
I got on my phone and looked at my calendar again. Sure enough the address my staff had inputted into my calendar was the same address I was at. I decided to dig deeper.
I pulled up the original deposition notice we had received in the mail. Guess what? Two numbers had got flipped around! Instead of 123 East Driver Lane (I’m making up the address because I don’t remember the exact address), my staff had put 123 West Driver Lane.
Now, I was in Los Angeles, mind you. The difference between East and West can be 10 miles in traffic! I looked up the notice we had sent to the client. The client had received the correct address. So, the only person who didn’t get the correct address was me. I wasn’t going to make the deposition in time, so we had to cancel the deposition with the defense attorney and apologize to the client for the misunderstanding, costing us good will and wasted time, effort, and money.
The moral of the lesson is. Administrative staff can often make minor mistakes and errors. But even minor mistakes and errors can cost law firms big time with clients, money, the court, and reputation in the community.