One court accelerates the pace of its asbestos trials by encouraging the use of summaries of depositions and tightly edited videotaped depositions. Through the use of a summary format, with page references and occasional verbatim reading of important passages, a fifty-page deposition can be summarized in about ten minutes.118Regarding videotaped depositions, the court rules on the objections prior to editing. The court has found that demonstrative evidence, such as use of the asbestos product at the job site, enhances jurors’ interest in videotapes. Presumably such techniques reduce the need for presentation of similar evidence in the courtroom.
- Cf Richey, A Modern Management Technique for Trial Courts to Improve the
Quality of Justice; Requiring Direct Testimony to Be Submitted in Written Form
Prior to Trial, 72 Geo. L.J. 7S (1983).