Definition: A proceeding established by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and corresponding state procedural rules in which an attorney questions a witness under oath before a court reporter for purposes of recording his testimony for use at trial. In some cases, the deposition is also videotaped.
The testifying witness is called the “deponent” and the process of providing deposition testimony is called being “deposed.”
Deponents are notified of a deposition through a Notice of Deposition or, in some cases, a subpoena.
Also Known As: Depo
Examples: Plaintiff’s counsel used excerpts of the deposition of Dr. Brown to impeach Dr. Brown’s testimony at trial.
