A deposition is a document created by a court reporter during the discovery phase of a legal proceeding.
In most cases, the deposition consists of a question-and-answer session between an attorney of one party and a witness in the case.
The purpose of best deposition summaries is to get testimony under oath that can be later entered into evidence at trial or used in a pretrial motion.
A deposition transcript may run dozens or even hundreds of pages long, depending on how long the witness was questioned and how much information was elicited.
Attorneys are not permitted to summarize depositions for their clients because it could introduce bias.
Instead, you must use a neutral third party to produce the summary. If you have never done this before, here’s what to observe when summarizing deposition transcripts.
Clarification
When summarizing a deposition, an excellent place to start is by clarifying parts of the transcript that might not be clear.
If the witness uses language that is difficult for the average person to understand or an unclear reference to another person, you need to clarify these points in your summary.
For example, if one party refers to another as “him,” but it is unclear who he is talking about, note this in summary and write in who he was referring to.
You should also highlight any important testimony that may be hard for someone unfamiliar with the case to understand.
Importance
When summarizing a deposition, you must determine what information is important and what information isn’t.
You should highlight anything substantial said during a deposition, whether by one party or another or by a witness or expert.
You may want to use different colors to highlight information from different people or use a highlighter pen to summarize on paper.
If you are summarizing electronically, use bold type for important information.
Read the Entire Deposition
Skipping over portions of the transcript could mean you miss key information or fail to consider other issues that may be relevant to your client’s case.
You should read through the entire transcript before beginning your summary.
Keep a Consistent Format
Using a consistent format for your summaries will make them more accessible for your client to read and understand.
For example, begin each summary with the witness’s name and then list key evidence from that witness in bullet points.
Bottom Line
Are you struggling to create good deposition summaries? Start by viewing depositions as a series of stories (events).
Then, confirm the details, not the particulars, and write notes while watching to help you recall the story.
Practice summarizing unimportant details and omitting unnecessary facts. Focus on critical points (events) and results.
When practicing, use plain English and try not to waste too much time looking for fancy words that may make no sense in context. Summarize as if talking directly to an audience.