Lawyers spend hours every week scouring case files, court filings, case law, and client documents. Each case demands extensive research and document review to ensure no stone is left unturned.

In such a research-heavy profession, deposition summaries are critical for streamlining workflows and simplifying case preparation. Depositions constitute a major part of case review, often adding up to tomes of transcripts that must be reviewed and summed up in brief for quick reference.

Creating these deposition summaries is a critical yet time-consuming task — one that new technology is well equipped to help with. Let’s take a closer look at what’s included in deposition summaries, how they’re created, and how AI can transform this vital job.

Types of Depositions

There are many kinds of depositions, and the method varies by the type and phase of the case involved. Deposition examples may involve expert witness testimonies, cross-examinations, or testimonies given during the discovery phase of a case.

Regardless of the details, depositions usually take place in one of four ways:

• In-person depositions: Also known as oral depositions, these traditional testimonies are given face to face, under oath in a lawyer’s office, where several attorneys may question the witness. A court reporter is present to record and create a deposition transcript, and the testimony may be recorded via audio and/or video.
• Written depositions: In some cases, witnesses may give written testimony by answering a series of written questions under oath. A court reporter may still be involved in authenticating answers.
• Remote depositions: Nowadays, some depositions can be conducted remotely via video conferencing. Remote video depositions offer convenience but introduce the need for greater security measures to ensure privacy and authenticate witnesses as well as their testimonies.
• Hybrid depositions: Depositions may combine elements of in-person and remote conferencing to accommodate a variety of witnesses. 

What a Depo Summary Looks Like

Regardless of the type of deposition, a digital court reporter or stenographer will produce a transcript to provide a complete written record of all testimonies for a specific case. These must be summarized to provide a quick synopsis of the key points so attorneys can pull out the most important details in preparation for trial.

These deposition summaries — depo summaries for short — come in a few different forms, depending on the needs of the case. The most common depo summary formats include:

• Page-line summaries: Organized by columns and cite specific lines of deposition transcripts to provide a quick summary and easy reference guide
• Topical summaries: Structured by key topics in a witness’ testimony, such as specific workplace safety violations in a class-action suit
• Chronological summaries: Arranged by chronological order of events in question rather than when they were described in the deposition
• Narrative summaries: A longer description of the deposition, often supplemented with commentary or analysis

Generally, depo summaries are about one page long for every five to 10 pages of deposition transcript, but the exact length varies by deposition type and the details involved.

Legal Summary History and Use Cases

Deposition summaries are part of a long tradition of legal summaries, making them a critical component of case law and civil or criminal trials. Attorneys rely on legal summaries as succinct reference guides in case preparation or to provide overviews to clients. Deposition summaries, in particular, enable lawyers to highlight the most salient points of a case in a trial or find contradictions that may warrant the impeachment of certain witnesses.

Attorneys use depo summaries in a wide range of situations, including case discovery, trial preparation, and client communication. They can be valuable for settlement negotiations, witness impeachment, appeals, pre-trial motions, and more. 

Who Prepares a Deposition Summary?

The task of creating a depo summary can fall on any number of players in a law firm, depending on the size of the firm and the scope of the case. In smaller firms, the attorneys themselves may prepare the summary, while larger firms may rely on paralegals or junior associates. This task can also be outsourced to third-party vendors that specialize in summarizing legal documents.

Whether the firm outsources the task or handles it in-house, the job must be completed with extreme attention to detail. Accuracy is of utmost importance in depo summary preparation.

How to Create a Deposition Summary

Creating an accurate and effective deposition summary is an extensive task. The steps to prepare a deposition summary typically include the following: 

1. Understand the purpose of the depo summary: Understanding how the depo summary will be used and the type of case involved is vital to the process, as this will determine the type of summary required. For instance, a detailed testimony for a criminal case may require a page-line summary, while a topical summary may be better suited to a class-action lawsuit.
2. Carefully review the deposition transcript: The summary must capture the most important details of the testimony, so the preparer must review the transcript numerous times to ensure no critical information is left out or misrepresented.
3. Include basic background information: Depo summaries should include background info like case name and number, name of the deponent and attorneys involved, date, time, and location.
4. Summarize key points in line with the type of depo summary: Critical info depends on the type of case, but preparers should look for key deposition facts, significant events, contradictions, and any behaviors or admissions that may damage the witness’s credibility. 
5. Be clear, concise, and objective: The summary is just that — not an analysis — and it must provide a quick and unbiased reference for attorneys involved in the case. 
6. Review for accuracy and brevity: A final review and editing phase is essential to ensure accuracy and clarity.

Depo Summary Challenges

Deposition summaries are not mere CliffsNotes for case preparation. These documents must be unbiased, precise, and succinct — and the fair and just outcome of a case may hinge on the information included. In other words, creating depo summaries is a complex, time-consuming task. 

Those who prepare depo summaries must have a keen attention to detail and a commitment to impartiality. The job requires a knack for condensing extensive testimonies and distilling complex concepts or translating jargon into lay terms. With the legal industry experiencing a shortage of skilled paralegals, these skills are increasingly hard to come by.

AI + The Legal Industry

AI has had a far-reaching impact in recent years, affecting nearly every industry in some way. The legal profession, in particular, is undergoing rapid transformation with these exciting new developments.

Law firms and others in the legal field can now use AI tools for everything from document automation to creating court transcripts. Tools like Rev can even combine AI with human review processes to produce deposition transcripts faster without compromising accuracy.

As AI expands its capacity to analyze documents and create concise summaries, it will undoubtedly become a crucial tool for creating AI deposition summaries. With the help of new technologies, attorneys may be able to create reliable summaries in a fraction of the time the task has historically required.

A New Era of Productivity for Legal Professionals

The legal profession has always been demanding, and deposition summaries have long played a vital role in simplifying the work of attorneys in case preparation. The advent of AI for legal transcripts, depositions, and more, promises to simplify and streamline legal work like nothing before. 

Whether you need to accelerate legal transcript creation or explore the possibilities of AI for deposition summaries, tools like Rev can make your firm more efficient and productive. Learn more about how Rev’s legal transcription tools can transform your processes, and how VoiceHub can get you the depo summary you need.