Cutting the Deposition for Trial

If you present testimony by deposition on direct, you need to provide opposing counsel with page/line designations well in advance of trial. Opposing counsel then gets the opportunity to object to your designations and offer their counter-designations. You then get to object to the counter-designations. Then, the attorneys need to confer to see what they can work out. Anything that cannot be worked out requires a judicial ruling, preferably well in advance of trial so the depositions can be cut for straight-play if they are videotaped and you do not waste the court’s or the jury’s time in the middle of trial to get the rulings. This video reviews page/line designations for direct and cross-examination and discusses whether or not to use the transcript or video during cross-examination.