Software for remote depositions can dramatically decrease costs and improve the overall efficiency of the legal industry. The most obvious impact is on saving money:

Software for Remote Depositions Saves Money

• Travel. Attorneys who conduct remote depositions can reduce or eliminate not only their own travel, but also the travel of clients or key witnesses.
• Shipping/luggage. Tied to travel costs, the attorney who conducts remote depositions is no longer spending wads of their client’s money shipping boxes of documents or exhibits.
• Paper costs. Not as apparent, but conducting a deposition remotely, using the appropriate software, means that exhibits aren’t printed out at all. The firm is therefore saving money on paper, ink, and of course preparation time.
• Court reporter fees. Court reporters make a lot of money at the end of a deposition by scanning in all the document exhibits and charging all participants who want a copy. Using software for remote depositions allows participants to completely eliminate this cost.

In addition to saving money, attorneys who adopt software for remote depositions also have huge time savings:

It also saves time (and time is money right?)

• Increased efficiency. In addition to the time related to travel (sitting in an airport, waiting for luggage, etc.), attorneys aren’t searching for documents at the last minute or suspending a deposition to find the document s/he or his/her paralegal misplaced.
• Collaboration. Teams that aren’t traveling have more time to spend collaborating. But one not obvious boost to collaboration is that now teams are better able to collaborate during the deposition. Simply put the mike on mute to consult with co-counsel or an assisting expert witness. More on this in a later blog post.
• Timeliness. Not only are you saving hours in travel time, but by allowing witnesses to join the deposition remotely, attorneys who use software for remote depositions have a much easier time scheduling the deposition with witnesses who live far away or are busy.

Other savings include:

• Eliminating problems with document security and handling as airlines no longer are losing important, sensitive packages.
• Attorneys have more flexibility in choosing court reporters, as a favorite court reporter can be a participant to a remote deposition from anywhere in the world.

What other savings and benefits come with using software for remote depositions? We’d love your input! Leave a comment below and we’ll add it to our list.