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Videotaped Depositions: Goldmine or Curse?

By Linda S. Crawford
September 01, 2004

Times have changed. Depositions, used at trial for impeachment purposes, are now more than just dry words on a page. Increasingly, they are on videotape and the courts are happy about that. Weseloh-Hurtig v. Hepker, 152 F.R.D. 198, 201 (D. Kan. 1993). Should lawyers feel the same way? Well, it depends on whether you are the attorney taking the deposition or if you are the one whose client's deposition is being captured on video. It can be a blessing or it can be the death knell for your case. Let's look at this developing trend.

Until 1993 there was no right to a video deposition in the Federal Courts. Prior to the 1993 amendments to Fed. R. Civ P. 30, any party wishing to take a video deposition had to do it either by consent of the parties or by order of the court. Now the rule states: “2) The party taking the deposition shall state in the notice the method by which the testimony shall be recorded. Unless the court orders otherwise, it may be recorded by sound, sound-and-visual, or stenographic means, and the party taking the deposition shall bear the cost of the recording. Any party may arrange for a transcription to be made from the recording of a deposition taken by nonstenographic means.” The majority of the states have followed suit in mirroring the Federal Rule.

The Pros of Videotaped Depositions

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