Teleconferencing

For some proceedings, teleconferencing is a way to appear remotely in order to save time and travel costs.

A few tips for getting the most out of a telephonic deposition:

• First, most states require the court reporter must be present at the location of the witness in order to administer the oath.  This has recently changed in California with the passing of S.B. 1146, which permanently allows for remote depositions. 
• Some of the problems associated with telephone depositions: not being able to hear the party on the other line, garbled speech, poor phone connection, several participants who all sound alike and don’t identify themselves.
• If someone on the telephone does not respond to something, it may be that they didn’t hear it or it was garbled and it might be a good idea to either repeat your statement/question or ask the court reporter to read it back.
• When there is more than one party appearing telephonically, to avoid any confusion as to speaker identity, those on the line should identify themselves whenever they start talking.
• Normally, the case caption, exhibits, other documents and possibly a word list would be handed to the court reporter at the deposition. With a telephonic deposition, these should be sent to the deposition firm in advance of the deposition so they can be provided to the court reporter ahead of time.

Reminder: At the conclusion of a telephonic proceeding, the court reporter will need to get counsel’s transcript order and possibly clarify the spelling of any names or special terms. This saves time, as the court reporter will not need to contact anyone later to obtain needed information.