A deposition summary reduces a transcript to its substance, either in page-line format tracking the testimony sequentially or organized by topic. Each entry cites the page and line so the underlying testimony can be located.
Summaries are increasingly generated with software assistance and then reviewed and corrected by the legal team.
Alternative Names:
Depo Summary, Transcript Summary
Why it Matters?
Summaries are consulted repeatedly through the life of a case, which means an error introduced at summarization propagates into motions, expert materials, and trial preparation. The specific risk with generated summaries is fluent distortion, where a qualifier or condition is dropped and the summary reads cleanly while misstating the testimony. Line citations are what make verification practical rather than requiring a full re-read.
Frequently Confused with
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between page-line and topical summaries?
Are deposition summaries discoverable?
