As an attorney preparing for a deposition, you’ve got a million things on your mind, and your court reporter is most likely not one of them. After all, your court reporter’s job, to provide an accurate verbatim transcript of the proceedings, seems straightforward. In addition to a verbatim transcript, though, you want the record to be easily readable. If your transcript is full of false starts and interruptions, it will be difficult for a judge or a jury to follow – and easy for your point to get lost.

We asked our Raleigh-based court reporters, who’ve been involved in thousands of depositions, to share a few tips for attorneys who want to produce the best transcript possible. 

1. One at a time!

It’s standard procedure for attorneys to ask witnesses to wait until the full question is asked before answering, and for the attorney to pledge to do the same. Some witnesses just won’t get it, though, and will continually interrupt. If the interruption is just a “yes” or “I don’t know” the attorney will usually go on with the remainder of the question, but some witnesses will just keep talking over the attorney. The best thing you can do in this type of situation is to stop talking and let the witness go on, then gently remind them to wait for you to finish asking the question before answering. Believe it or not, sometimes that silence is more effective than an admonition, as one of our reporters shared: “At one deposition, when the witness interrupted and talked over the attorney, the attorney would stop mid-sentence, mouth open, when the witness did this. Amazingly, after the attorney did this a few times the witness realized what they were doing and the behavior stopped.” Even if the witness doesn’t stop interrupting, at least there is only one person talking and the court reporter can capture what is being said.

2. Can I quote you on that?

When reading from a document in a question, start with quote, end with end quote, and don’t interject other commentary in the middle of the quoted material. By wording your question in this way, it’s clear which words are supposed to be part of the quoted material and which words aren’t. Not all documents end up being part of the record, and in that instance all the judge or jury will have to go by are the words in the transcript. This also applies when asking a witness about something another person said.

3. Whoa, Nellie! Slow down!

We live in a fast-paced, multitasking world. As an attorney taking a deposition, being fast-paced or multitasking will ruin your transcript. If you ask rapid-fire questions, you’re bound to trip over your words. If you’re quickly reading from a document, you’ll most likely mumble the words and skip a few of them. It’s really okay to take a deep breath and slowly ask your questions – and it could actually end up making your deposition shorter.

4. NUMB3RS

Whether you’re referring to money or lab values or statute numbers, be consistent in your verbiage. If you say “Thirty-two, five” it could mean 32.5, $32,500, or something else. This is especially important if it’s a financial case where you’re constantly referring to bank statement documents or accounting records. By using a consistent, clear method of referring to numbers, you will create an easy-to-understand record.

For your next deposition, keep these tips in mind and see what a difference they make in the final transcript. And if you’ll need a court reporter in the greater Raleigh area, we would love to be of service to you. You can schedule online here or call our office at (919) 586-8011.