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.

1. 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

2. analytical skills plays a vital role in conveying the same sense but in a more concise and
articulate manner.