Use cases
Deposition exhibits: marked once, lived with for years
A deposition has no judge, no jury and no display to fight over. What it has instead is a court reporter making a record, a witness who needs the document in front of them, and opposing counsel across the table with their own copy. The exhibit is marked once and then referred to by that mark for the rest of the case, sometimes for years.
That permanence is the thing to design around. A deposition exhibit number follows the document into motion practice and often into trial. Getting the numbering wrong on day one means every later citation has a footnote explaining itself, and it means two documents in the file called Exhibit 12.
Preparation before the witness sits down
Agree the numbering with the other side, or at least announce yours, before the first deposition in the case. Sequential across the whole matter is the convention that causes the least trouble later: the eighth deposition starts where the seventh stopped, so no number is ever used twice. Confirm whether the reporter or the examining attorney assigns numbers in this jurisdiction.
Then build the order you will use. Depositions run on a planned sequence far more than hearings do, and the order you hand documents across the table is part of the examination. In Exhibit Room, import the candidate documents into a trial named for the deponent and drag them into that order. Overprepare here: bring the documents you may need, because there is no adjournment to go get one.
Workflow in Exhibit Room
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Create one trial per deponent
Name it for the witness and the date. The case details go in the trial fields so a set from eighteen months ago still explains itself.
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Number continuously with the rest of the case
If the previous deposition ended at 47, this one starts at 48. Type the numbers you agreed; the field takes any scheme.
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Load the sequence you plan to examine in
Reorder the list to match your outline, including the documents you expect to use only if a particular answer comes back.
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Keep the screen copy clean
Do not mark up the copy you display; the witness should see what the reporter marked. Duplicate the exhibit if you want a version with your own notes on it.
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Record what actually got marked
Set each exhibit you used to Offered as you go, so that afterward you have a list of what was marked rather than a memory of it.
Working alongside the court reporter
The reporter's copy is the official one. Exhibit Room does not print exhibit stickers, does not apply Bates numbers, and does not connect to transcription or realtime feeds, so the paper side of the room runs exactly as it always has. What the app gives you is a fast, ordered, searchable-by-name set on your own screen while that happens.
In practice most people run both: paper copies handed to the witness and the reporter, the same documents on the laptop for your own navigation and for anyone appearing remotely. Hand out paper, then follow along on screen so you can jump to page 140 when the witness disputes a date. Keep the numbering identical between the two or the record gets confusing on the transcript.
Deposition questions
Does Exhibit Room print exhibit stickers or labels?
No. Labeling stays with paper and with your reporter. The app holds the numbers, the order and the documents.
Can I sync exhibits to the transcript?
No. There is no transcript integration and no realtime feed. Exhibit Room handles the documents; your transcript software handles the testimony.
How do I carry the numbering into trial?
Build the trial set separately, and record the deposition exhibit number in each trial exhibit's description so the two can be reconciled. How to number trial exhibits covers the usual conventions.
What about a remote deposition?
Share the presentation window over the video platform the same way you would in a remote hearing, and send the documents to the witness by whatever method the parties agreed.
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