How the Videos changed Depositions Forever

There used to be a time when all the witness testimonies were noted down word-by-word by the court reporters during a disposition. The problem with depositions usually is that many a times the witness is at a distant geographical location from the actual trial. In these situation the witness might not willing to travel all the way due to travel expenses or other scheduling issues.

The evolution of video technology has changed the basic functionality of many courtroom procedures, depositions being one of them. Videos have brought a whole new picture of how depositions take place. It has solved the travelling constraints that previously held many important witnesses back to give their testimonies. Witnesses who cannot be physically present at the actual trial due to scheduling issues or the travelling expenses can now give their depositions via video which is presented to the judge.

 It is a common saying that, “A picture is worth a thousand words”; so imagine the impact a whole moving video of pictures will have. Video depositions have the added advantage of giving a clearer picture to the jury. It is human nature than what we see and hear has more impact on us than just reading something from a piece of paper. 

Every little movement, the body language, the facial expressions, blink of an eye, every pause taken to answer and even every minute hesitation is captured by the video camera proving a much clear picture in front of the jury. An added advantage of using videos for depositions is that the witness cannot alter or change his testimony even a little bit once the testimony is recorded. These testimonies are then stored in DVDs or blue-ray Disks which are a much improved and advanced way of storage.

Hiring a court reporting agency to get skilled and professional court reporters

Court reporting is considered to be a highly specialized occupation as companies can’t hand over the court reporting work to an unprofessional court reporter. 

The occupation of court reporting is not just holding stable, its undoubtedly growing its employment. Adding to the nature of court reporting , it helps organizations to save their money by reducing to employ people for handling legal paper work. What they need to do is to hire a court reporting company. 

Court reporters mainly are hired by organizations and law firms for reporting depositions. The witness has to give testimonies with respect to the response to the questions asked by an attorney before the case goes to trial. These testimonials help attorneys prepare their case which can be utilized at the time of trial.

If you want to be a  court reporter then first you need to get a proper training to be  a certified  court reporter . It can be obtained from various universities offering such courses. Court reporting training will help you to get specialization in various aspects of court reporting which includes real time reporting .

Organizations hire court reporters by contacting a court reporting company which offers court reporters who specializes in various types of court reporting services. They provide you with suitable , adapt and utter professional court reporters. You need not question on the quality of court reporters provided to you by a good agency. You just need to choose the right one. 

The good court reporting agency puts the aspirants willing to work as a court reporter under an examination. The candidates passing examination are hired. Court reporters helped you by handling all your legal paperwork at the time of deposition. They are trained in managing work accordingly and have an accuracy and sense of professionalism in their work.

VIDEO DEPOSITION: A UTILITARIAN

As the technology has reached to its maximum heights, video conferencing and video deposition are so familiar words now days.  If one hasn’t used video deposition in their legal matters, then it is the time for them to start utilizing the benefits now. Legal depositions can be one of the technology tools in any attorney’s toolbox.

There are several advantages of using video in depositions. Legal video depositions assist attorneys in presenting a more compelling case. A person having a deposition transcript read into the record at trial fails to show the jury, the witness’s spontaneous reactions, emotional state and body language. He tends to lose the instant pauses, nervous fidgeting and angry glares. He loses the opportunity to show the witness’s full demeanor when testifying. This may become important during the proceedings at the trial and can surely effect the decision by the jury.

Video deposition helps in recording all such events which cannot be shown and written on the paper. It much likely holds the jury’s attention.  In this age of television and YouTube, we are all conditioned to pay attention to a video screen for long stretches of time. Jurors will pay attention much longer to a deposition video than a transcript being read into the record.

 

Video deposition testimonies can be used to impeach a witness if they change their statements during the trial. This common use of deposition video in court enables everyone to see the witness who obviously cannot make any different statement on the video than what they presented in court. Video deposition has a much greater impact than simply reading the written transcript testimonies. Video deposition is useful in fulfilling all the needs of their clients and providing the satisfactory results out of their profession