A Seven-Hour Deposition, an Interpreter's Self-Correction, and Speaking Objections
You report a deposition in a personal-injury case with a Korean-speaking plaintiff and a certified interpreter. From 9:05 a.m., the noticing attorney makes speaking objections, restating questions and coaching with remarks like "just tell them what happened, not what you think." Defense counsel objects, and over the next four hours instructs the witness not to answer five times-twice citing attorney-client privilege, three citing "form." At 4:05 p.m., with 5 hours 40 minutes of record, counsel says "let's go off the record," and the group breaks for 25 minutes. At 6:30 p.m., with the record at 6 hours 55 minutes, plaintiff's counsel announces, "We're past seven hours, we're suspending." Later, the noticing attorney emails asking you to delete the interpreter's self-correction-"he said he went-no, he stayed"-to make the answer "cleaner."
1. What do you record when an instruction not to answer is given, and what is your role in the speaking objections?
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Record everything and adjudicate nothing.
For each of the five instructions, the record should show the pending question, the objection stated, the instruction itself, and whether an answer was given. That sequence is what an appellate court needs to decide whether the instruction was proper. An instruction not to answer is permissible only in narrow circumstances-to preserve a privilege, to enforce a court-ordered limitation, or to permit a motion for a protective order. Three of the five here cite "form," which is not one of those circumstances, but it is not the reporter's call to overrule it. Capture it accurately; the remedy is a motion, not a reporter's ruling.
The speaking objections-restating questions and telling the witness how to answer-are likewise recorded as spoken. A reporter who paraphrases or omits the coaching destroys the very evidence of misconduct the defending side will later cite. If the conduct continues, you may ask counsel to state objections concisely for the record, but do it neutrally and once.
If an instruction is given while off the record, ask that it be restated on the record before the witness answers, so the record is complete.
2. How do you handle the seven-hour limit and the time computation, and what belongs in the certificate?
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The reporter reports; the attorneys and the court decide whether the deposition exceeded its allowed time. Under the federal rule, a deposition is limited to one day of seven hours absent stipulation or court order, but the computation and any exceptions are legal questions.
What you can do is make the record clear. Your log should show: start at 9:05 a.m.; 5 hours 40 minutes of record at 4:05 p.m.; off-record break of 25 minutes; resumption; 6 hours 55 minutes of record when counsel announced suspension. Off-record time ordinarily does not count against the seven hours, which means the suspension at 6:55 was asserted at just under the limit on record time-a fact the parties will argue about, and one your log can settle.
In the certificate, recite the times and the fact of suspension neutrally, without characterizing whether the limit was breached. Note whether the deposition was concluded or suspended, because that affects whether it can be resumed. If asked to state a legal conclusion in the certificate, decline and let the transcript speak.
3. What do you do with the request to delete the interpreter's self-correction?
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Refuse. The correction is part of the record and often the most probative part of it.
"He said he went-no, he stayed" shows the interpreter catching an error in rendition. Deleting it would conceal a possible translation discrepancy and could misstate the witness's testimony in a case where the witness's own words are only accessible through the interpreter. The verbatim rule does not bend because a passage reads awkwardly. Interpreters are expected to correct renditions on the record; the correction should be preserved, and the interpreter's qualifications and certification recorded in the transcript's opening.
What you can do to help, legitimately, is ensure the final transcript clearly identifies who is speaking at each point-interpreter, witness, or counsel-so the correction is unambiguous. If the noticing attorney believes the rendition itself was wrong, the remedy is to reconvene and clarify with the interpreter on the record, or to raise it with the court.
Reply in writing, stating that certified transcripts are verbatim and that corrections are made only through the record. Keep the email and the audio if one exists.