Deposition summaries are being used more frequently in courtroom proceedings today than ever before. These valuable tools, which can benefit both law firms and their clients in several ways, can also help courts and jurors as they seek to identify and evaluate relevant testimony.
If your firm has not started using deposition summaries, read here to explore some of the many benefits of summarizing deposition transcripts.
What Is a Deposition Summary?
For litigation attorneys and law firms, depositions are often foundational elements of their clients’ cases. Distilling what can be long, complex witness testimonies, however, into a format that is useful can be challenging. A deposition summary does just that, providing an accurate, high-level overview of the deposition with line and page references for key points.
What Are the Benefits of Using Deposition Summaries?
There are several benefits to be realized from using professional deposition summaries, rather than spending your time — or a paralegal’s time — combing through deposition testimony in search of key information.
- Time Savings. Because a deposition summary is designed to help readers identify the important details quickly and easily, this tool offers potentially significant time savings for your firm. There is no need to spend hours trying to find information; simply refer to the summary and follow the provided line/page references if you need to read a section of the testimony. In addition to helping attorneys, insurers may also request deposition summaries over complete transcripts.
- Help with Pre-Trial Preparation. Summarized depositions are designed to simplify litigation attorneys’ efforts preparing for trial. They do so by eliminating the need for lawyers to read through reams of paper. Not only is the old way of doing things inefficient, but also it heightens the risk that valuable information may be missed. Because deposition summaries call out key points from depositions, they can also help litigators identify information which may prove to be effective as strategic elements of clients’ cases.
- Cost-Effective Solution for Firms and Clients. Using deposition summaries can save you and your clients money especially if you choose to outsource the work to a legal services provider. Compared to the expense of a client paying your hourly rate for you to read through deposition testimony — or paying a paralegal on your staff to summarize testimony for you — outsourcing deposition summaries to a legal services provider is generally more cost effective. In large part, that’s because professionals are experienced at creating summaries and have developed efficiencies in their work. Outsourced service providers are also familiar with complex terminology with which you or your paralegal team may not be as comfortable.
- Valuable Resource During Litigation. In addition to helping you prepare for litigation, deposition summaries can also be helpful during the court process itself. You could use the deposition summary to help refresh a witness’s testimony or as a key part of an effort to discredit a witness for the opposing side. Judges and juries alike may also find summaries helpful. As long as the summary adheres to the jurisdiction’s guidelines as admissible evidence, a judge may find it useful in helping sum up the case. For their part, jurors will likely prefer having a deposition summary to refer to over the entire deposition testimony.
Litigation Services Makes Summarizing Deposition Transcripts Easy!
Choosing to outsource deposition summaries can save your firm both time and money, freeing up your legal team to focus on case strategy. Litigation Services provides a variety of services, including accurate and reliable deposition summary services. Our trained professionals are adept at quickly reviewing and distilling key points in deposition testimony. All work is proofread and checked for quality, so you can be confident in the product you receive.
To learn more or to get started, contact us today!