Witness statements are recorded by law firms through depositions. Most law firms outsource deposition summaries to a professional paralegal service agency because it is not economical to use in-house staff this type of work. By hiring a legal outsourcing firm to handle compiling legal documentation the firm can realize savings of up to 80% percent on such tasks. If your law firm does 200 depositions a year, you will save as much as $125,000 annually only on deposition summaries!
Deposition testimony is usually taken verbally with an attorney asking questions of the deponent while a court reporter and/or tape recorder chronicles the evidence. The witness is usually sworn in and gives a statement under oath, and afterward signs an affidavit to the accuracy of the subsequent transcript. This statement needs to be condensed in order for an attorney to interpret the deposition. Getting this done in-house will cost the client a huge amount as the billing is done at associate or paralegal rates. Rather, outsourcing to legal process outsourcing (LPO) agencies who work on a per-page billing saves huge costs for the client and you get a faster turnaround for the task.
Savings on In-House Resources:
The increasing trend among litigators is to outsource deposition summaries. With a trial date looming, it is imperative that everyone on the staff assigned to this case be working effectively. Completing legal documents can be boring, tedious work, and an in-house paralegal with multiple responsibilities can become restless and agitated with mundane labor. However, a concise, well-articulated summary can be an attorney’s most valuable tool.
Outsourcing is Economical
Because they charge a fixed amount per page, outsourcing unexciting jobs can be cost effective for the firm and the client. If the same work were prepared in-house the paralegal and/or junior partner assigned to the task will still be drawing their usual salary and the cost may be double. Since saving the client as much money as possible is a responsibility of the legal counsel, while providing the best service available, outsourcing becomes an even more economical choice.
Faster Turnaround Time
By sending routine work to a company that is dedicated to handling legal documentation the law firm can be assured that the paralegal assigned to the case is well trained and can complete the job in a matter of two or three working days. As a part of quality assurance, most work done by a paralegal is double-checked by a junior attorney to ensure that no mistakes have been made.
Saves Senior Attorney Time
If necessary, a summary can allow the attorney to quickly identify significant sections of the discovery original text. A one hundred page transcript can be condensed into ten pages of outline which, of course, save the attorney valuable time locating the testimony needed, as the synopsis has references to pages and line numbers of the original text.
Arizona Court Comment
According to the Arizona Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 32, Court Comment stated in effect that reading discovery transcripts can be tedious for the jury and reduces the comprehension level and attention span of the jurors. Summarizing is an effective means of informing the jury in an understandable and abbreviated structure. Therefore, the court encourages and/or requires all parties to agree upon a concise outline of the transcript. Also, Federal Rule of Evidence 1006, encourages discovery summations that cannot be examined in court expediently.
