My Deposition Kit is an iPad

My deposition kit is an iPad. No cart, no binders, no box of duplicates.
 
I came up in a world of binder carts. On the defense side, getting ready for a deposition meant a paralegal building three-ring binders, tabbing exhibits, printing copies for the witness and opposing counsel and the court reporter, and someone wheeling it all in. A document out of order meant flipping pages while everyone waited.
 
I do not work that way anymore. Here is the unglamorous version of how it works.
 
The work happens the night before. I load every exhibit I might use into a trial-presentation app (I use TrialPad by LIT SOFTWARE), pre-marked and pre-numbered in the order I expect, with a second set sorted by topic in case the testimony goes somewhere I did not plan. The same document can live in three folders without printing anything.
 
In the room, when I am ready to introduce an exhibit, I tap it. It comes up on my screen and, if we are sharing, on a monitor or on remote participants' screens at the same instant. No flipping, no "give me a moment," no passing paper down the table. I can zoom into one paragraph, or put two documents side by side (the email and the policy it supposedly followed) and let the contrast do the work.
 
The part that sold me is the Apple Pencil. I mark up a document live, in front of the witness, while it is on the screen. I highlight the line I am asking about, circle a date, underline the sentence the witness just tried to walk away from. The markup is saved, so months later I know what I flagged and why.
 
And there is no cart. I walk in with a bag. That is the whole kit.
 
Now the honest part, because anyone who says the iPad wins every time is selling something.
 
Some witnesses do better with paper in their hands. An older or nervous witness often settles down with a document they can hold and flip at their own pace.
 
Some courtrooms and court reporters are not set up for screens. If the judge wants a paper copy for the bench, you bring paper. You do not fight the room over your workflow.
 
And batteries die. Paper never runs out of charge in the middle of a cross. The iPad is my primary tool, not my only one. I keep a charged backup and a printed set of the key exhibits in a thin folder.
 
So I am not paperless. I am mostly paperless, with paper in reserve for where it works better.
 
I did not switch to look modern. I switched because it makes me faster and sharper in the moment, and because the firm I run now does not have a floor of paralegals to wheel carts around. I represent workers, one at a time, against companies that usually have far more resources than my client. Anything that lets me move fast and keep the pressure on a witness is worth it.
 
The technology is not the point. The preparation is. The iPad just removes the friction between the work I have done and the moment I need it.

-CJMc