Yes, I get your point. However…
When you take the fifth, you’re saying that you refuse to answer the question on the basis that it might incriminate you in a criminal proceeding.
In a civil proceeding you can ask the person how he thought that answering the name of his organization could incriminate him. You wouldn’t be able to focus on 3-4 questions, but you could push him on any of the questions on why he thought it would criminally incriminate him.
When deposing a corporation, we don’t know the best person to question regarding a specific topic. So we tell the Coporation the topics that will be covered and ask them to designate who in the company is the most knowledgeable.
Companies often tries to play games and send a junior person to the deposition with zero knowledge about the case or area you’re questioning. A lot of lawyers get upset nd jus through hoops to get the right person. But, the thing is, this is the person who the corporation has designated as the most knowledgeable in the entire company. If he doesn’t know an answer, that means he company doesn’t know the answer.
You can have lots of fun with that, and the junior person’s answers are legally binding on the corporation.
In the same way, pleading the fifth can be held against the person in a civil proceeding. Plus, they know what the pressure points are without being ‘as interested as fuck’ in the questions that weren’t answered.
I’m familiar with basic game theory. I was making a comment based on the rules of civil procedure, the Supreme Court’s ruling in Baxter v. Palmigiano and 20 years of civil litigation. FFS.