what a deposition transcript needs to look like
deposition transcripts have a fixed shape that exists for litigation, not for legibility. 25 lines per page (sometimes 24, sometimes 26 — jurisdiction-specific). page numbers in the footer. line numbers down the left margin so attorneys can cite to page 47, line 12 when they impeach the witness. Q. and A. prefixes for the questioning attorney and the witness. a caption block at the start that names the case, court, parties, witness, and attorneys present. objections appear inline with the standard indentation.
this format is not a stylistic preference. it's how depositions get filed, cited, and impeached at trial. a transcript that looks right but isn't paginated this way won't survive a motion-in-limine fight, won't fit the impeachment binder, won't read into the record cleanly.
the workflow
- get the audio file. from the court reporter's recording, your firm's video conference, the dial-in line — wherever the deposition was captured. mp3, m4a, wav, mp4 (audio extracted) all work. most depositions are 1–4 hours.
- fill the caption block once. case name, case number, court, date, location, witness, parties, attorneys. saved against the case so the next deposition in the same matter prefills.
- transcription runs. on a 60-minute deposition the first pass is ready in 1-3 minutes (cloud mode) or roughly real-time (on-device private mode).
- review in the editor. speaker labels arrive as Q. (questioning attorney) and A. (witness) where the diarization is confident, with flagged uncertain rows surfaced in a "needs eyes" panel. crosstalk sections — common in objections — get flagged. proper nouns (witness's surname, firm names, technical terms) get fixed once and propagate.
- export deposition format. 25-line paginated PDF, line-numbered, with the caption block at the top of page 1, exhibits referenced by number where mentioned. .docx and per-line CSV also export for case- management systems.
where this fits in the litigation workflow
this is for the working transcript that goes into a file — for trial prep, for summary judgment briefs, for impeachment binders, for deposition designations. the official record certified by a court reporter remains the official record; we don't replace court reporters. we replace the time a paralegal spends turning audio into a working draft, which is currently 25–40% of the audio length on most tools.
a 4-hour deposition that takes 80 minutes of cleanup on a generic transcription tool takes under 12 minutes here. that difference compounds across a quarter's deposition load.
privacy: why depositions need on-device transcription
deposition audio contains testimony, attorney work product, and material whose discoverable status you can't always predict. uploading it to a third-party transcription vendor puts the audio on a server that becomes a subpoena target — a route opposing counsel can take to your audio that doesn't exist if the audio never left your laptop.
private mode runs the speech-recognition model in your browser. the audio file you transcribe makes no network request. there's no vendor in the chain. for the structural version of this argument, see for lawyers.
jurisdiction profiles
we ship profiles for jurisdictions with non-default rules:
- federal default: 25-line, 8.5×11, 1-inch margins
- california state: 25-line with specific marginals
- new york state: 24-line with line-numbering rules
- texas state: 25-line with caption-block variations
- certain federal districts with specific local rules
pick the profile at export. if your jurisdiction has a rule we haven't profiled, write hello@audiohighlight.com with the citation and we'll add it.
what we don't claim
court-grade verbatim accuracy from any AI transcription tool, ours included. depositions have crosstalk, mumbled words, jargon-heavy testimony, and witnesses who answer before the question ends. AI transcription gets to a working first pass quickly; the paralegal still verifies it. the editor is built for that verification step — click any word, hear the second of audio.
for the certified record that goes into the official file, the court reporter's transcript is the official record. we produce the working draft.
pricing for depositions
$0.25 per minute. a one-hour deposition is $15. a four-hour deposition is $48. private mode and cloud mode are the same price. no subscription, no minimum. for firms with steady deposition volume, batch pricing arrives after launch.