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The Olympics of Court Reporting
Video depositions are hardly a new trend, so you might think all attorneys know exactly how to handle them. Amazingly, a lot of the same mistakes are made over and over, leading to a less-than-optimal deposition, transcript, and video.
All of our standard deposition tips apply, but there are a few particular tips you should follow to ensure you get a great end product.
- This is not a DIY project. Modern technology being what it is, some attorneys think they can get the same product by setting a video camera on a tripod at the end of the conference table and hitting record. If your plan is to videotape the depositions for your own educational purposes, that’s probably okay. Probably. Maybe. But for an expert witness deposition or any testimony that could be shown in court, you need a professional videographer. When you hire a professional videographer, you can be assured they have the proper equipment and backups, are constantly monitoring that equipment and adjusting audio levels to make sure none of the testimony is lost, and that they’ll make sure the video is framed appropriately so it will look good when you show it in the courtroom.
- Location, location, location. Choose a conference room that has good lighting and make sure there is no distracting artwork behind the witness.
- Handle your exhibits. If you’re attending in person, they should be neatly organized so you’re ready to mark them and show them to the witness seamlessly. If you have to pause and shuffle through exhibits before handing them to the witness, everyone who views the tape will have to sit through that – and it makes you look unprofessional. If you won’t be there in person, send the exhibits ahead of time (as discussed in this post). And, don’t forget to instruct the witness to hold the exhibit up for the camera.
- Be extra mindful of “other” noise… Be sure your location isn’t right next to busy train tracks, a police or fire station, or anywhere loud noises might randomly interrupt the proceedings. Not too many years back the US Bankruptcy Court in Durham moved to a brand-new building (well, a newly-renovated former warehouse) and installed state-of-the-art audio-visual equipment. But since no one realized that an extremely busy (and loud) set of railroad tracks was located right behind the building, hearings have to pause for up to 15 minutes as loud freight trains pass. You don’t want this to happen in your deposition. “Other” distracting noises include typing on a keyboard to take notes, tapping on the table, vibrating cell phones, and pen clicks.
- … and be mindful of your mic. All participants will be wearing a lapel mic so the video will emphasize the voices and not ambient sounds. The videographer will have the microphones at certain levels to try to de-emphasize other noise in the room, but if you shuffle papers near your lapel mic it will be picked up. If you whisper to your client while opposing counsel is questioning the witness, it could be picked up.
- No filler – just the beef! Concentrate on not using um, huh-uh, uh-huh, like, you know, or other space-filling words. In “normal” depositions the court reporters will generally leave out filler words like um and ah, but on a videotaped deposition they will all be in the transcript – and the jury will hear them as well. Filler words make it difficult to follow the question.
- WAIT for the videographer to stop recording before launching into off-the-record conversations with opposing counsel. Once you say “off the record,” the professional videographer will state “Off the record” and the time before stopping the camera.
Call Greater Raleigh Court Reporting at 919-586-8011 to book your next professionally-videotaped deposition!
The Olympics of Court Reporting
It used to be common for attorneys to drive or fly all over the country taking depositions, but times have changed. Clients are less willing to pay for travel expenses and travel time, so telephone depositions are becoming increasingly common.
In virtually all telephone depositions the court reporter will be present with the witness, since they’ll be administering the oath. Sometimes one attorney will also be present with the witness and other attorneys on the phone, sometimes all attorneys will attend by phone, and in some cases with numerous parties just one attorney will attend by phone.
However the telephone deposition is configured, some parts of it will always be nerve-wracking, but with a little bit of advance planning it can be less stressful.
1. Location, location, location!
Make sure the witness will be at a location with a speakerphone and access to appropriate technology. Believe it or not, our reporters have shown up to depositions where the out-of-town witness was allowed to choose the venue to find that there was only an old-school phone without a speakerphone option, or the witness figured they would just put their cell phone on speaker for the deposition. The best way to handle this is to schedule your telephone deposition through a court reporting firm that provides a conference room for the deposition. They’ll handle the technology and make sure you have a reliable conference call provider scheduled.
2. Exhibits
In a perfect world (for the court reporter, at least), multiple copies of all of the exhibits would be mailed to the court reporter ahead of time with an index sheet describing what they are. Understanding that there are many reasons that ideal won’t work in a particular case, we advise clients to email exhibits to us no later than 24 hours before the deposition. Each exhibit should be in a separate PDF file, and an index should be provided. Label the documents as either 1, 2, 3 or A, B, C, whichever you are *not* using for exhibits. That way, you can easily direct the court reporter to the exhibit you’d like marked and not waste time trying to describe a particular document.
If possible, send the index sheet to opposing counsel as well so proceedings aren’t held up while they locate the document. If the court reporter doesn’t receive the email with your exhibits until a few hours before the deposition starts, they might not be able to get the exhibits printed in time for the deposition.
3. Pause!
It’s even more important in a telephone deposition to not talk over each other or interrupt, but it’s more difficult to avoid because you can’t see the other person. The witness should be instructed to wait a second or two before answering a question in case an attorney wishes to lodge an objection, and the taking attorney should wait a second or two before beginning the next question as well.
4. Create a calm environment
A lot of people fidget when they’re sitting at their desk or listening to a deposition, but little noises like pens tapping on desks or keyboard are emphasized in telephone depositions and can actually bleed over the questions or answers. If you’re going to take notes on the computer while listening to the testimony, mute your line. If you know you’ll be tempted to tap your pen or jiggle your keys, keep those items away from your desk. Close the door to your office to cut down on background noise that can distract other call participants. And absolutely do not carry on other conversations during the conference call.
5. Assert Yourself
If you’re on the phone and need to object or make a comment, say it loud and proud – and be sure to identify yourself. Most of the time the court reporter can differentiate between the voices, but there have been cases where a couple of the attorneys have very similar voices and it’s difficult to distinguish who’s speaking.
6. Allow for Extra Time
Sometimes there are tech issues with a conference call line or with the technology skills of some of the people dialing in. Try to be on the conference call line 5-10 minutes before the start of the deposition so any kinks can be worked out and proceedings can still start on time.
7. “New Phone, Who’s This?
In addition to the exhibits you’ll be sending the court reporting firm (which you’ll be doing, right?) make sure the court reporter has the Notice of Deposition and the names of the parties attending. This will save time and ensure the court reporter has accurate information for the appearance sheet (since you won’t be there in person handing them a business card).
We hope these tips will help you when preparing for and conducting your next telephone deposition. Greater Raleigh Court Reporting provides complimentary conference rooms, conference call setup, and court reporting services for telephone depositions. To schedule your Raleigh area telephone deposition, use our easy online scheduling tool or call us at 919-586-8011.
The Olympics of Court Reporting
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.