Summarizing a Deposition - Skills & Tools

Someone has rightly said, “Deposition is the core part of litigation”. An attorney heavily

relies upon the testimony of the witnesses in order to prove the claim of the client and

to demolish the claim of the opponent. The purpose of the testimony is to yield the

truth. It helps in bringing out the actual veracity from the witnesses. The fate of the trial

to a greater extent depends upon the depositions. Testimony is a technique to tacitly

elucidate the correct version from a witness. Attorneys put across the questions to the

witness so as to bring them to their desired statement in very scattered manners. This

makes the deposition a lengthy affair.

As the depositions go to the root of the trial, it entails the demarcation of relevant part

out of the deposition which further requires to be summarized. The correct

summarization of deposition depends upon two vital factors:

1. Legal acumen

2. Ability to summarize

Each trial has its peculiar set of facts which mandate its course of trial. The testimony is

expected to revolve around the issues involved in it. In absence of a legal acumen, the

vital points of testimony are at risk of being missed. The selection of relevant text out of

the deposition can be done only by a qualified attorney. Anyone other than an attorney

/ paralegal would be unable to actually understand and identify the required portion in

the testimony to support the defense or otherwise. So the role of a person with legal

acumen becomes vital in highlighting the selected portion. The legal acumen in

summarization deposition requires the following skills:

a) Ability to identify the key points involved in the testimony in hand.

b) Skill to comprehend the legal issues lightly to be supported or demolished by the

witness.

c) Selection of the key points including the supported / non-supported version by the

witness.

Summarization produces a comprehensive and organized portion of testimony. It

requires the real understanding of the highlighted portions by joining them with

relevant connectors or other words. Good comprehension along with grammatical and

analytical skills plays a vital role in conveying the same sense but in a more concise and

articulate manner.