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Hit 200 depositions last month, the number finally clicked for me
I passed my 200th deposition in Dallas and realized my old note-taking method was useless for about the last 80 of them. Started color-coding by topic after that, cut my prep time for the next hearing in half. Has anyone else found a milestone that made them rethink their whole workflow?
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oscarcooper22d ago
200 depositions is a lot of experience to throw away on color coding. I hit 150 in Chicago last spring and went the opposite way, stripped everything down to just dates and key names. My prep time went down too, but that’s because I stopped looking for patterns that mostly live in the transcript anyway. Color coding sounds like you’re making a scrapbook, not a case file. The real win is knowing when to stop taking notes and just listen, which no highlighter can teach you.
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ruby_lane22d ago
Read the transcript again though, the color coding usually only helps if you're searching for the same thing across multiple depositions, not when you're just prepping for one case. Every system's got its place, but I get what you're saying about just listening.
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