The best certified court reporters ensure the accuracy and admissibility of witnesses and evidence presented during legal proceedings. Stenographers, for centuries, have been doing this face-to-face with the person in the same room, providing testimony. The surge of COVID made it impossible, and then court reporters had no other option than to work remotely, capturing the record online.
Remote depositions through videoconferencing are vital to keeping the course of law flowing as a bulk of the legal world is now working from home.
Why preparing for remote deposition is a good idea?
- It minimizes a witness’ anxiety.
- It makes it clear for the deponent about his role
- It allows deponents to keep a brief testimony
- It will help the attorney spot fidgeting in witnesses and stop them from happening.
- It helps the attorney provide assistance on how to handle the documents and exhibits.
Tips for Attorneys to go about well in remote depositions
The biggest challenge in remote depositions is having everyone on the same page. And with the sudden change in working methods, attorneys are learning more each day about the wonders of remote depositions and videoconferencing. With the experience of the last two years spent on remote depositions, attorneys around the country have compiled tips on having a flawless remote deposition. We, at Georgia Reporting, ensure the cases run smoothly with our renowned national court reporters in Atlanta.
Tips on the Remote deposition process
Prior to the deposition, make sure you contact all the parties involved in the deposition with all the needful information they need in order to be successful in the procedure.
1. The attorney must contact their court reporting firm
Get in touch with a court reporting firm and let them know that you will require a certified court reporter for your video conference so they can set up the service and distribute the link to all the parties participating in the deposition.
2. Tip for the exhibits
You can email the exhibits to the court reporters and other participants, or you can even use the screen-share option when you want to share the exhibits in the video conference.
3. Make an agreement on the record
Place a requisite on the record that the deposition is going to be conducted remotely, and the oath will also be conducted remotely.
Let every participant have their say as all the parties must agree to conduct the deposition via video conference.
Before starting the remote deposition, check with your internet connection if it can handle the bandwidth required for running an entire remote deposition. All this involves:
- Having a device with a webcam.
- Having good internet speed in your location.
- Turning off all the notifications on your device to avoid stream interruption.
- Closing browser windows and programs that are not in use to prevent lagging in your stream.
- Running an audio test and if it reveals any problems, call into the conference using the number provided by the videoconferencing platform.
Courtesy rules for every participant
It is crucial in a legal setting to be very clear and patient for carrying out a successful remote deposition. Have a look at the following tips that will help you run the proceedings smoothly.
- Let the court reporter take their time to get all appearances before beginning the deposition.
- Keep yourself on mute at all times unless you are speaking; having background noise in conferences is not a very pleasant thing to have.
- Keep the volume down when you speak and avoid speaking over someone.
- Go through the documents slowly and be patient when someone asks for clarification.
- Keep a key list of words and phrases (like company names, streets, and names) with yourself to provide to your certified court reporter, ensuring that everything is spelled correctly.
- Allow your court reporter to have the opportunity to check for any spelling confusions and let them get orders before everyone hangs up.