Every litigator knows that preparation is the key to a good deposition. But the vehicle for that preparation — your deposition outline — is worth some extra attention.
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A well-structured outline doesn’t just organize your thoughts; it sharpens your strategy, keeps you focused under pressure, and gives you a single document you can use as your source of truth throughout the deposition. The difference between whether you take a mediocre deposition or a great one often comes down to the quality of the outline behind it.
Over two decades of taking depositions, I’ve developed three tips that ensure disciplined prep and effective questioning and use of documents in the room. Here they are.
1. Start Every Section with a List of Goals
Start every section of your outline with a list of goals — the admissions you expect the witness to make or facts you hope to learn. I categorize these as likely goals (things you’re confident you can get based on documents and prior testimony), possible goals (stretch targets you’ll grab if the opportunity presents itself), and alternative goals (fallback positions if the witness doesn’t give you what you wanted elsewhere).
Why is this important? I see a lot of meandering in depositions. Attorneys drop into deep rabbit holes on tangential topics or comb through documents sentence by sentence, regardless of relevance. More often than not, this signals that the attorney doesn’t have a clear idea of what they’re trying to achieve.
Writing out goals forces concrete thinking about what testimony will actually advance your case. In the deposition itself, those goals become your guideposts. Check them off as you go, refer back to them at breaks, and use them to pivot when things go differently than planned. They turn your deposition outline from a script into a strategic tool.
2. Write Out Every Question
When drafting your deposition outline, I strongly recommend writing out all the questions you plan to ask, including alternative branches depending on how the witness answers. And when I say all, I mean all — even lines of questioning that seem easy.
This is not because you should read from your outline during the deposition. In fact, I rarely look at my written questions while questioning a witness. I prefer to keep my eyes on the witness and maintain a conversational tone. But I still write out every question in advance because there is no better way to discipline your thinking on how different approaches might play out. It’s easy to assume a witness will agree with you on something straightforward, only to discover mid-deposition that the phrasing is trickier than you thought. Writing questions in advance exposes those risks early and forces you to plan for them. Over time, this practice builds instincts about what types of questions work, and those instincts will serve you well when you have to improvise on the fly.
3. Paste Document Clips into Your Outline
This last tip is simple but shockingly useful. Instead of citing documents with references like “[Tab 7 — December 12 Letter]” and then flipping between your outline and your binder, just paste a screenshot of the relevant portion of the document directly into your outline.
With the clip right there, you can draft and refine your questions without ever leaving your outline. Want to do a last-minute review at your hotel the morning of the deposition? You only need one document. In the room itself, hand the witness their copy of the full exhibit and keep working from your outline — no juggling required. Once you start doing this, you won’t go back.
Here’s an example of a deposition outline: Sample Summerson Deposition Outline.
These three techniques work together to produce a deposition outline that is strategic, thorough, and easy to use under pressure. Master them, and your depositions will improve dramatically.
More Trial Preparation Tips from Sam Davidoff
From Paper to Pixels: How Litigators Can Successfully Adopt Digital Binders
Three Binders Every Litigator Needs
Image © iStockPhoto.com.
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