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Deposition transcript summary prompt: free ChatGPT template

Meetings and notesLawWorks in ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Copilot

Updated · By Robert Breen

Use this when an attorney hands you a long transcript and wants to know what the witness said about the parts of the case that matter. The prompt sorts testimony by the topics you choose, keeps every point tied to a page and line, quotes the witness word for word where wording matters, and lists every "I don't recall" so nothing gets lost. It does not judge credibility or say what the testimony means for the case. That is the attorney's call.

Only paste a transcript into a tool your firm has approved for client files. Long transcripts may not fit in one go, so work in sections and keep the page numbers in each.

Have a professional review it. This prompt helps you draft, not decide. AI can get the law wrong and doesn’t know your jurisdiction or your facts, so have a licensed attorney review anything legal before you send or sign it.

The prompt

Copy it into ChatGPT (or Claude, Gemini or Copilot) and replace every [BLANK] with your own details. It uses the four parts from Prompt Writing 101: Role, Context, Task and Format.

Role: You are a litigation paralegal at [FIRM] summarizing a deposition for the attorney on the matter.
Context: The matter is [MATTER]. The witness is [WITNESS]. The attorney wants testimony sorted under these topics: [TOPICS]. The transcript section below covers pages [PAGES], with page and line numbers.
Task: For each topic, list what the witness said in short plain sentences, each ending with its page and line cite in the form 12:4-15. Where the exact wording could matter, quote it word for word in quotation marks. Do not paraphrase inside quotation marks. Then list every answer where the witness said they did not know, did not recall or refused to answer, with cites. Then list testimony that does not fit any topic. Do not assess credibility, strength or what the testimony means for the case. If a cite is unclear, write "CITE TO CONFIRM" instead of guessing.
Format: Headings for each topic, bullet points under each, then "Did not know or recall" and "Other testimony". Plain text, no emoji, no opinions.

Fill in the blanks

[FIRM]
Your firm's name.
[MATTER]
The case name or matter number, as the attorney refers to it.
[WITNESS]
The witness's name and role, such as "events manager for the defendant".
[TOPICS]
The three to six subjects the attorney cares about, in their words.
[PAGES]
The page range of the section you are pasting, so the cites can be checked.

Example, filled in

A made-up example from the free lesson Reply Faster to a Client Asking for a Case Update: ChatGPT for Small Law Firms. Harbor Street Law is the made-up small law firm from the case-update lesson. Imagine Carla Mendes's made-up case against Lakeshore Event Hall has moved forward, and Attorney Rachel Hale has asked paralegal Owen Park to summarize the deposition of the venue's manager. The witness and testimony are invented.

Role: You are a litigation paralegal at Harbor Street Law summarizing a deposition for the attorney on the matter.
Context: The matter is Mendes Floral v. Lakeshore Event Hall, Franklin County Court. The witness is Dana Whitcomb, events manager for Lakeshore Event Hall. The attorney wants testimony sorted under these topics: the signed floral contract, the events Mendes Floral supplied, reasons given for not paying the $8,400, text messages with Carla Mendes, and who approves vendor payments. The transcript section below covers pages 1 to 48, with page and line numbers.
Task: For each topic, list what the witness said in short plain sentences, each ending with its page and line cite in the form 12:4-15. Where the exact wording could matter, quote it word for word in quotation marks. Do not paraphrase inside quotation marks. Then list every answer where the witness said they did not know, did not recall or refused to answer, with cites. Then list testimony that does not fit any topic. Do not assess credibility, strength or what the testimony means for the case. If a cite is unclear, write "CITE TO CONFIRM" instead of guessing.
Format: Headings for each topic, bullet points under each, then "Did not know or recall" and "Other testimony". Plain text, no emoji, no opinions.

What a good answer looks like

  • Five topic headings in the order Attorney Hale gave them, each with short points and a cite on every line.
  • Exact quotes for anything about the text messages, because the wording of those answers may matter.
  • A separate list of every "I don't recall", which is often what an attorney reads first.
  • No words like "evasive", "credible" or "damaging". The summary reports, it doesn't argue.

How to check it before you use it

An AI draft can sound right and still say something you never told it. Use the habit from the Reply Faster lesson: check every promise, name, date and number against what you gave it before anything goes out.

  • Spot check at least five cites against the transcript. AI can attach a real quote to the wrong page.
  • Search the transcript for each quoted line to make sure it appears exactly as written.
  • Skim the pages the summary barely mentions. A short summary of a long section usually means something was skipped.
  • Have the attorney review the summary before it is shared with the client or anyone else.

Practice it in the free lesson

Reply Faster to a Client Asking for a Case Update: ChatGPT for Small Law Firms: A client wants a court date and a promise she'll win. Give ChatGPT the thread and your firm's facts, catch the lines that predict an outcome, and send a clear, kind case update from Gmail. You do every step yourself in a practice copy of ChatGPT, and nothing touches your real accounts.

Start the free lesson

Also useful: Prompt Writing 101: Role, Context, Task, Format

Terms used here

AI citationsChunkingAttorney-client privilegeAI summarization

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