If you are interested in a summary deposition, it is important to know the types of deposition summaries. There are a few reasons why depositions are done, and the summaries are then done for the same reasons. It is important that the summary be written in such a way that reflects the original purpose the deposition was taken.

First, a deposition can be taken for discovery purposes rather than for preserving testimony. A discovery deposition may be taken to find out more information about the case. These depositions can be broad and may be useful if the lawyer has trouble getting information from other sources or if the person was unwilling to talk to the attorney without having a subpoena issued.

In a discovery deposition summary, the focus may be on open-ended questions such as who, what, when, where, why, and how. The witness may give long-winded answers to these. In the summary, it is necessary to distill this information to vital discovery facts that attorneys and other stakeholders need to know going forward. Discovery deposition summaries are vital parts of the case, so much care should be taken in preparing them.

Another type of deposition is to preserve testimony. These are taken to preserve the testimony of a witness that the lawyer believes could be unable to testify at the trial. The strategy in this type of deposition is different. The attorney will only ask the questions about which he wants the person to give testimony. If the lawyer asks for more information, he risks the person giving testimony that can damage the case.

The attorney in this type of deposition should ask questions of the witness in the same way they would during a trial. If the witness has to offer the foundation for letting a piece of evidence into the trial, the lawyer should get this information during this deposition. Obviously, the deposition summary should focus on these key pieces of evidence and provide the stakeholders all the relevant information about the pieces of evidence that are crucial to the case.

When a person is preparing a deposition summary, it is very important to talk to the attorney who gave the deposition. He or she should have a thorough understanding of why the deposition was done and what the purpose of the deposition summary is. Every deposition can have a different reason and the summary needs to reflect what the purpose of the deposition was.