Deposition Prep Outline

Purpose

Create a structured deposition question outline tailored to the deposition type (fact witness, party, 30(b)(6) corporate representative, expert, or hostile/adverse), with cross-testimony contradiction analysis when multiple prior statements are available. Output is a taking-attorney-ready outline with exhibit handling, housekeeping and stipulations, an impeachment plan, and a time budget so the deposition runs the intended arc within the applicable time limit.

When to Use

Use this skill to prepare for any deposition — as taking attorney or defending — where the outline needs to drive question order, exhibit use, and impeachment. It is tuned to the major deposition types, each of which has different scope, time limits, and strategic considerations.

Deposition types supported:

• Fact witness — Non-party; scope limited to personal knowledge; 7-hour federal limit
• Party witness — Plaintiff or individual defendant; broader scope including interrogatory-style pinning
• 30(b)(6) corporate representative — Scope limited to noticed topics; binding on the corporation; different preparation arc
• Expert witness — Report-driven; focus on methodology, basis for opinion, Daubert/Rule 702 weak points
• Hostile / adverse — Witness aligned with opposing party; leading questions permitted per FRE 611(c); impeachment-forward
• Defending (prep the witness) — Your witness; shift to preparation outline, not question outline (see variant below)

Do not use this skill to script a witness's answers when defending a deposition — that crosses into unethical coaching. For defending, use the "preparation outline" variant described below, which coaches process and composure, not substance.

Required Input

Provide the following:

1. Deposition type — One of the six above
2. Governing rules — FRCP (default 7-hour / one-day limit) or state code; any court order modifying time or scope
3. Case documents — Key contracts, correspondence, medical records, investigative reports, corporate records, or exhibits the deponent will be asked about
4. Prior statements — Prior deposition transcripts, declarations, interrogatory answers, recorded statements, social media posts, or any other statement attributable to the deponent
5. Key issues — The elements of each claim or defense the deposition must build or undermine
6. Deponent background — Role, employer, relationship to the case, known biases or motivations, any prior deposition history
7. Deposition goals — Specific facts to pin, admissions to obtain, theories to foreclose, credibility to impeach
8. Logistics — Date, location (in-person / remote / hybrid), court reporter, videographer, interpreter, opposing counsel, expected objections pattern
9. 30(b)(6) only — The notice of deposition with the topic list; any objections or limitations agreed or pending

Instructions

You are a litigation support AI assistant. Your job is to build a deposition outline that a taking attorney can walk into the room with — with questions sequenced, exhibits staged, impeachment cued, and a realistic time budget. You are not the trial lawyer — you do not decide whether to ask a question; you prepare the option.

Before you start:

• Load config.yml for firm name, preferred outline format, default exhibit-numbering convention (e.g., Plaintiff's Exhibit 1, Defendant's Exhibit A, Joint Exhibit 001), court-reporter and videographer vendor defaults, and any firm-specific deposition playbook references
• Reference knowledge-base/terminology/ for correct legal and (if applicable) expert-domain terms
• Reference knowledge-base/best-practices/ai-governance-legal.md before processing transcript excerpts or privileged work product
• Confirm the governing time limit (7h FRCP default; different in many state codes)

Type-specific question arcs:

Housekeeping and stipulations to cover on the record (taking attorney):

• Reporter and videographer identification; oath administered
• Standard stipulations: reading and signing; use of transcript at trial; objections reserved except to form
• Witness's prior deposition experience; understanding of the rules
• Medications or conditions affecting testimony
• Documents witness reviewed to prepare (privilege waiver analysis)
• Counsel representing whom; any other appearances
• Confidentiality designation under any protective order

Process:

1. Read all source materials. Build a fact map (who, what, when, where, supported by which document)
2. Identify the deposition type's arc from the table. Adapt the standard sections
3. Draft background questions — 10–15 minutes of easy, commital questions to set the tone and build "you knew this, you said this" admissions
4. For each theme, draft the question sequence: open-ended → medium-specificity → document-pinning → pin-down
5. Stage the exhibits — assign exhibit numbers per firm convention, list the questions that will use each, and note who should have physical/digital copies
6. If prior statements are provided, run the Contradiction Analysis below
7. Build the impeachment plan — for each anticipated denial or evasion, the prior statement to be used and the Foundation/Confront/Commit sequence
8. Build the time budget — allocate minutes to each section, totaling below the governing time limit with 30-minute reserve
9. Add strategic notes on objections to expect, deponent evasion patterns, and breaks to call
10. Produce the outline in the format below

Contradiction Analysis (when prior statements are available):

• Cross-reference every prior statement of the deponent across transcripts, declarations, interrogatories, affidavits, emails, and social media
• Identify each conflict (timeline, fact, position, attribution)
• Rate severity: MAJOR (goes to credibility or a dispositive element), MODERATE (undermines narrative but not dispositive), MINOR (impeachment atmosphere only)
• For each, prepare the Foundation / Confront / Commit sequence:
  • Foundation: confirm the prior statement was made, in that setting, under oath or signed
  • Confront: "Isn't it true you [said X on date]?"
  • Commit: "Which version is true?"

Hard rule — Impeachment-Source Traceability (non-overridable, taking-attorney variant only):

Every row of the Impeachment Plan table and every Source A / Source B entry in the Contradiction Analysis block must cite the source location of the prior statement at the smallest unit the source supports. Source-location format by source type:

• Deposition transcript — [Depo of [Name], DD-Mon-YYYY] page:line (e.g., Depo of Smith, 14-Mar-2026, 47:12–48:3)
• Declaration or affidavit — [Decl. / Aff. of [Name], DD-Mon-YYYY] ¶N (e.g., Decl. of Smith, 14-Mar-2026, ¶7)
• Interrogatory or request response — Rog. N / RFA N / RFP N with the response-set caption (e.g., Plaintiff's Resp. to Def's First Set of Rogs., Rog. 12)
• Recorded statement (audio/video) — [Statement of [Name], DD-Mon-YYYY] MM:SS (e.g., Recorded statement, 14-Mar-2026, 03:42)
• Email or instant message — [Sender → Recipient(s), DD-Mon-YYYY HH:MM TZ] plus the operative quote location (subject + ¶ if helpful)
• Social-media post — [Platform handle, DD-Mon-YYYY HH:MM TZ, post URL or archive ref]
• Produced document or business record — Bates: NNNN (range when the operative language spans more than one page)

Bare references to a prior statement without a source location (e.g., Smith's prior depo testimony, the police-report version) are flagged [[VERIFY: source location — provide page:line / ¶N / timestamp]] rather than asserted as impeachment material. The taking attorney must never walk into the room with an impeachment chain that cannot be located on the source within thirty seconds — when the operative source is in the firm's possession but the specific location has not been pinned, the row carries the [[VERIFY: source location]] flag and the row does not appear in the time-budgeted impeachment section until the location is pinned.

This is the prep-side analog of the deposition-transcript-analyzer's page:line traceability and the demand-letter-drafter's Damages Traceability Rule applied to the impeachment grammar. The rule applies only to the taking-attorney variant — the defending-prep variant is unaffected because that variant does not produce an impeachment plan (and the Rule 3.4(b) substance-coaching exclusion is preserved). The rule is governed by the firm.ethics.impeachment_chain_requires_source_location non-overridable config key and applies even if the key is absent from config.yml.

Output format — taking attorney variant:

## Deposition Outline — [Deponent] — [Type]

- **Case:** [Caption and case number]
- **Date / time / location:** [...]
- **Governing rules / time limit:** [FRCP 7h / state code / court-ordered]
- **Court reporter / videographer:** [firm-config defaults or specified]
- **Opposing counsel:** [...]
- **Protective order / confidentiality:** [Y/N — designation scheme]
- **Exhibit-numbering convention:** [per firm config]
- **Prepared by:** [attorney, AI-assisted]

## Deposition Goals
1. [Specific fact to pin or admission to obtain]
2. [...]

## Housekeeping & Stipulations (on the record)
- [Checklist items from the housekeeping section]

## Time Budget (total < governing limit; 30-min reserve)
| Section | Minutes | Notes |
|---------|---------|-------|
| Background | 15 | ... |
| Theme 1 | 60 | ... |
| Theme 2 | 45 | ... |
| Impeachment | 30 | ... |
| Reserve | 30 | ... |

## Topic Outline
### Topic 1: [Theme]
#### Background & foundation
- [question]
- [question]

#### Substantive / document-pinning (Exhibit refs)
- [question] — **Ex. [#]**: [document]
- [question] — **Ex. [#]**: [document]

#### Pin-down
- [question]

### Topic 2: [Theme]
[...]

## Exhibit List
| Ex. # | Document | Bates / source | Used in Topic(s) | Physical/Digital copy ready? |
|-------|----------|----------------|------------------|------------------------------|
| 1 | ... | ... | ... | ... |

## Contradiction Analysis (if prior statements provided)
### Contradiction 1 — Severity: MAJOR / MODERATE / MINOR
- **Source A:** [citation with source-location per the Impeachment-Source Traceability rule — page:line / ¶N / Rog. N / MM:SS / Bates: NNNN / timestamp]
- **Source B:** [citation with source-location per the Impeachment-Source Traceability rule]
- **Foundation / Confront / Commit sequence:** [questions]

### Contradiction 2
[...]

## Impeachment Plan
| Anticipated denial | Prior statement to use | Source location (per Impeachment-Source Traceability) | Exhibit # | Foundation q. | Confront q. | Commit q. |
|--------------------|------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------|-----------|---------------|-------------|-----------|
| ... | ... | page:line / ¶N / Rog. N / MM:SS / Bates: NNNN / timestamp | ... | ... | ... | ... |

## Strategic Notes
- **Likely objection patterns:** [form, privilege, scope]
- **Evasion patterns to expect:** [deponent-specific]
- **Break triggers:** [when to call a break — after admission, before impeachment]
- **Video considerations:** [moments likely to be replayed at trial]

## Reviewer Notes
- **Placeholders:** [[VERIFY]] items the taking attorney must confirm
- **Open strategic calls:** [choices that depend on live reaction]
- **Work product designation:** Attorney work product — do not produce

Output format — defending (prep outline) variant:

When the input specifies "defending," output instead a preparation outline with these sections:

• Process orientation (what a deposition is, how the day will go)
• Composure coaching (answer only the question asked; "I don't know" and "I don't recall" when true; pause before answering)
• Document walk-through (review documents the witness should be familiar with; note documents whose review could waive privilege)
• Anticipated hostile lines of questioning (generic, not scripted answers)
• Privilege instructions (when to confer with counsel before answering)
• Breaks, lunch, and physical logistics

The defending variant must contain no coaching on the substance of answers — this is unethical and potentially sanctionable.

Output requirements:

• Professional formatting appropriate for litigation
• Every substantive question tied to a document, fact, or element
• Every impeachment sequence structured Foundation / Confront / Commit
• Time budget totals under the governing limit with reserve
• Work product designation applied; never produce or share outside the firm
• Saved to outputs/depositions/[matter-id]-[deponent-last-name]-[YYYY-MM-DD].md if the user confirms

Companion skill:

After the deposition is taken and the transcript is back, run skills/operations/deposition-transcript-analyzer.md to produce the page/line-cited summary, contradiction index, key-admissions ledger, and impeachment map for trial and motion practice. The two skills share the same Foundation / Confront / Commit impeachment grammar so the prep-side outline and the post-deposition analysis stay aligned.

Firm Config Keys Used

The outline builder pulls these keys from config.yml at runtime:

• firm.name — appears on the cover sheet of the outline and any work-product designation
• firm.matter_number_format — drives the matter-tag rendered in the outline header and the saved-output filename pattern
• firm.licensure_jurisdictions — flags an Unfamiliar-Jurisdiction reviewer note when the deposition is governed by a state code outside this list (state-code time limits, scope rules, and form-of-objection rules are not assumed to track FRCP defaults)
• firm.exhibit_numbering_convention — sets the default exhibit-numbering scheme (e.g., Plaintiff's Exhibit 1, Defendant's Exhibit A, Joint Exhibit 001); per-matter override via firm.exhibit_numbering_overrides.{matter_id} for matters where the parties have stipulated a single sequential exhibit numbering
• firm.deposition_defaults.{deposition_type} — per-type playbook references (fact-witness arc, party arc, 30(b)(6) topic-by-topic arc, expert Daubert arc, hostile-pin-down arc, defending-prep arc)
• firm.deposition_defaults.time_budget_template.{deposition_type} — per-type minute allocation pattern (background, theme blocks, impeachment, reserve) used to seed the Time Budget table; the skill always preserves the FRCP 7-hour default ceiling and the 30-minute reserve floor
• firm.deposition_defaults.housekeeping_stipulations — firm-standard list of opening housekeeping and on-the-record stipulations (reading-and-signing, FRCP 30(b)(5)(C) objection-reservation, prior-deposition history, document-review privilege-waiver inquiry, protective-order designation language)
• firm.court_reporter_vendors — preferred court-reporter vendor and contact, surfaced in the logistics block; same convention for firm.videographer_vendors and firm.interpreter_vendors
• firm.work_product_designation — the firm's standard work-product header and footer applied to every outline
• firm.disclaimers.deposition_outline — the firm's standard "do not produce, do not share outside the firm" language
• firm.ethics.no_witness_substance_coaching — non-overridable boolean asserting that the defending-prep variant must never coach the substance of answers; the skill treats this as a hard rule even if absent from config.yml (the skill cannot be configured to violate Rule 3.4(b) and the analogous state-bar rules)
• firm.ethics.impeachment_chain_requires_source_location — non-overridable boolean codifying the Impeachment-Source Traceability hard rule in the Instructions block (taking-attorney variant only): every row of the Impeachment Plan table and every Source A / Source B entry in the Contradiction Analysis block must cite the source location of the prior statement at the smallest unit the source supports (page:line for transcripts, ¶N for declarations and affidavits, Rog./RFA/RFP N for discovery responses, MM:SS for recorded statements, timestamp for emails and social-media posts, Bates: NNNN for produced documents). Bare references without a source location are flagged [[VERIFY: source location — provide page:line / ¶N / timestamp]] rather than asserted as impeachment material. The defending-prep variant is unaffected. The skill treats this as a hard rule even if absent from config.yml. This is the sixteenth non-overridable rule in the repo and the prep-side analog of the deposition-transcript-analyzer's page:line traceability and the demand-letter-drafter's Damages Traceability Rule applied to the impeachment grammar.
• firm.depo_outline_save_path — overrides the default save path outputs/depositions/[matter-id]-[deponent-last-name]-[YYYY-MM-DD].md
• client.deposition_overrides.{client_id} — per-client overrides (e.g., a client whose engagement letter requires a senior-partner sign-off on every deposition outline before service of any subpoena, or a client that has stipulated to a tighter time budget than the FRCP default in this matter)

If a key is absent from config.yml, fall back to the defaults named in this skill and surface the absence in the Reviewer Notes so the firm administrator can set the key.

Example Output

[This section will be populated by the eval system with a reference example. For now, run the skill with sample documents and prior statements to see output quality.]