In Brief Deposition Summary Service

How can discovery summaries save both time and money?

Niknac1 — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 12:57:45 +0000

After eight hours of deposition testimony, it will be clear what the limits of witness’ knowledge are, and who or what may have more information. After even a day or two, all of those small — yet significant — details are harder to recall. By the time the transcript arrives, an attorney typically recalls only that the witness identified additional sources of discovery that need to be pursued, necessitating the first of many reviews of the deposition transcript.

At In Brief, we developed a way to streamline the process by preparing “Discovery Summaries.” These discovery summaries are the same in every respect to our page-line summaries, but with one crucial addition. In addition to condensing the testimony down to a manageable 10% of its original size, we highlight testimony that will be useful in composing additional interrogatories, document requests and witnesses for additional depositions. In one simple step, the firm has a perfect summary ready to use to prepare witnesses, experts, other attorneys on the file, and provide to the Court in support of summary judgment motions. In addition, we do the work of combing through the testimony to help you generate additional discovery requests within minutes, not hours, saving the firm time and money. See for yourself how an In Brief discovery summary can make your litigation easier today!

sample discovery summary

Niknac1 — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 01:58:09 +0000

Questions any attorney or deposition summarizer should ask are “What is an effective deposition summary?” and “How can I prepare deposition summaries more effectively?” The answer lies in the question: the question posed by the attorney taking the deposition, that is.

A reader of an effective deposition summary should be able to read each entry of the summary and accurately guess what the deposer was asking the witness. The attorney’s outline should become visibly clear in the topical path of the summary, starting with the background of the witness and progressing into a categorical breakdown of every area explored in testimony.

After a decade of preparing deposition summaries to send to experts, prepare other witnesses or ready the team for trial, I have been able to improve my deposition summarizing technique so even someone with no familiarity with the case can quickly and easily read my deposition summary and understand the very essence of how the witness testified without the need to wade through hundreds of pages of objections, breaks and clarifications that bog down so many deposition transcripts.

If you are ready to have your depositions summarized by a professional team, give In Brief a call. You’ll only be sorry you haven’t called sooner.

Deposition Summaries Aid the Court in Gulf Oil Spill Case

Niknac1 — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 15:35:22 +0000

Deposition summaries are being used as a crucial tool to simplify the “numbingly complex” BP Deepwater Horizon disaster and Gulf oil spill, according to Nola.com. Judge Barbier has requested deposition summaries for each of the fact and expert witnesses in the case in order to get a handle on all of the testimony without having to wade through each and every one of the voluminous and technical deposition transcripts. This technique can be used with great benefit to even small and simple cases; consider the utility of including a deposition summary of persuasive testimony as an exhibit to a motion in limine to bar an expert, or support for a summary judgment motion. Instead of appending hundreds of pages of transcript that, in all likelihood, no one will read, by also including a deposition summary as a record of the testimony, the judge will have easy access to your helpful testimony.

Consider using In Brief to summarize your depositions in advance of your next motion. It could make the difference between winning and losing …

Why are deposition summaries so important?

Niknac1 — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 01:25:27 +0000

I remember one of the first trials with which I was ever involved. When the case began, I was still in high school, and yet ten years later, there I was, instructed to “familiarize” myself with years of testimony from various fact and expert witnesses. Luckily for me, there was a complete and thorough page/line deposition summary for almost every witness, making short work of understanding a broad and lengthy litigation.

I thought about those summaries when I was asked to perform a similar task for a case I knew would have many hands on it before it saw a courtroom. I was mindful to include all relevant details, yet to keep the summary as tight as I could make it, striving for, and ultimately achieving, maximum efficiency and accuracy in a careful balance.

Years (and many, many deposition summaries) later, I have honed my technique, crafting simple – yet complete – page and line or topical summaries as fast as my clients demand them. And most of my clients are not handling decades-old cases. Instead, their cases resolve fairly quickly, but make up a large volume of work, making the time required to summarize even one dep in each case too laborious and costly. That is where In Brief steps in. With negotiable rates and time frames, we help you strike a balance between rapid turnaround and quality work product. You don’t have to pay for immediate results if you won’t need your summary in the next few days. And if you do, chances are you have a lot more important things to handle and my time will be far cheaper than yours, even if you need a summary overnight! So if you are considering outsourcing your summaries, why not give In Brief a call to see what package we can put together! I guarantee you will be glad you did.

In Brief Has Just Gotten Better

Niknac1 — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 14:31:58 +0000

We are so thrilled to announce that State Shorthand Court Reporting Services now offers In Brief’s Deposition Summaries at the time you schedule your court reporter for your deposition! Imagine getting the transcript AND a clean and concisely digested summary of the entire testimony at one time, and within a week of the deposition! We will save you time, money and stress so you can quickly prepare for that next dep, have testimony at your fingertips for motion practice, and get a jump on trial prep. Call us today!

Why choose In Brief?

Niknac1 — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 12:35:21 +0000

Unlike many other deposition summary services, at In Brief, your depositions will not be sent overseas or prepared by under-qualified or under-trained staff. I am a fully trained attorney with many years of litigation experience. I am located in New Jersey and can guarantee you will be thrilled with the summaries you receive from In Brief.