How To Summarize a Deposition

Ferguson & Ferguson

Attorneys at Law

January 27th, 2023

How To Summarize a Deposition

Having a summary deposition in tow can help a lawyer get through a trial with streamlined ease. Because summarizing takes time, it’s important to use the services of a company that specializes in summarizing this type of evidence.

So, how exactly do you summarize a deposition? What are the benefits? The following information will help you understand the core value of this legal tool.

How to Summarize a Deposition: How It works

When you learn how to summarize a deposition, you’ll find that the synopsis will allow you to pinpoint the main events in a deposition transcript. This synopsis backs the original deposition’s lines and pages so you can confirm the details with the verbatim recording.

What Is a Summary Deposition?

Your summarization is merely an objective, precise, and condensed review of the deposition’s main points. It corroborates the lines and pages on the original deposition. This makes it easy for you to refer to the main details and confirm them.

Summaries hold a great deal of weight in trial preparation with respect to discovery, and are also used for verbal testimony and written copy, such as interrogatories. Without a summary, an attorney would be hard-pressed to continue with a trial, as the main highlights of the witness testimonies would be missed. Therefore, it’s important to keep this in mind when documenting this type of copy.

The Proper Presentation

If writing a traditional page and line summary, the content should be displayed so the referenced page and line numbers are on the left and the summary material is featured on the right.

The Summary Steps: 3 Key Points to Remember

To prepare a summary, three steps are involved:

1. Reading the transcript and focusing on the questions attorneys ask and how the witnesses respond.
2. Annotating or highlighting the key points of the summary.
3. Organizing the points in a specific format. Summaries may be prepared by page and line, or by using a narrative format.

Making the Material Useful

To ensure your material is useful, you need to do the following.

Relate Only the Relevant Copy

Only include the copy that will help in making a decision legally.

Never Modify the Context

Make sure the witness’s answers are not altered – that they follow the questioning in the transcript.

Avoid Editorializing the Copy

It is important to stay objective and neutral, and avoid biases. when composing the summary material. Otherwise, the transcript may be regarded inaccurately.

Why Outsourcing the Work Is Important

To ensure your summary deposition is correct and purposeful, it helps to work with a company that features both discovery and summary services. Make sure the trial process is both streamlined and fair so a client receives the best chance for success.