This blog is about ways to ensure a clean record. We don’t have to tell you the importance of a clean and accurate record. Attorneys use tools such as these to do things like impeaching the testimony of incredible witnesses and much more.
Speaking at the same time
One of the best ways to ensure a clean and accurate record is to nip the interruptions in the bud before you have a cluttered and unusable transcript. It’s quite common for multiple people to talk over one another at a deposition or to interrupt before a question has been fully asked. The problem here is that court reporters can only take down one person speaking at a time, so the court reporter has to choose one or the other. This makes for a very messy record.
Here is an example of what it will look like should this be allowed to take place.
Attorney: State your name —
Witness: Joe Jones.
Attorney: — please.
Witness: But people call me —
Attorney: What do you do for a living?
Witness: — Tiger.
I work at The Zoo —
Attorney: Where is this zoo located?
Witness: — Arizona.
Attorney: Where exactly?
Witness: In the city —
Attorney: How long does it take you to go to work?
Witness: — of Phoenix.
About two hours.
Attorney: Hey, Joe —
Witness: Uh-huh.
Attorney: — how did you get that nickname?
Witness: I work with tigers.
Many problems can arise from speaking at the same time, such as transcripts being much longer than they needed to be. Fragmented transcripts can no longer easily impeach testimony at trial. Also, it is confusing when multiple people are talking at the same time, so try to stop it before it gets out of hand.
Use the same court reporters
This one is pretty easy to understand. The more often you work with a court reporter the more familiar they will be to terminologies specific to your practice. They will be more in tune with how you communicate and already have the answers to little questions that someone new will surely have to ask.
If you desire unsurpassed excellence, call our court reporters in Phoenix, AZ.
