What Attorneys Don't Think About Until the Deposition Is Already Running

The call came in on a Tuesday morning, about forty minutes before a scheduled Zoom deposition was supposed to begin. The paralegal on the other end was calm, but only in the way that people are calm when they're working very hard not to sound panicked. Their deposition officer had canceled. Did I have any availability?

I did. We made it work. But that Tuesday morning has stuck with me, because it's not an isolated thing. It happens more than attorneys realize, and almost always at the worst possible time.

Remote depositions have become a normal part of litigation practice in Texas. The shift that started out of necessity a few years back turned out to be genuinely convenient for everyone — witnesses who used to have to travel, out-of-state experts, parties spread across multiple cities. Zoom works. The technology isn't the problem. The problem, when there is one, is almost never the technology.

What actually creates friction in a remote deposition is the officer. Specifically, the absence of one who knows the procedural requirements cold.

Texas has specific rules governing how remote depositions work, and those rules aren't optional. The oath has to be administered properly. Identity verification can't be casual — it has to be structured and documented. The officer needs to understand what they're certifying and why, because that certification is what makes the transcript admissible. An officer who's doing this for the first time, or who treats it as a formality, is creating exposure that doesn't show up until somebody challenges the record.

I've been a notary for nineteen years. I've sat in on a lot of depositions, handled a lot of remote sessions, and I've watched what happens when the officer position isn't treated seriously. Usually nothing happens and everybody moves on. But sometimes — usually in the cases where the stakes are highest — the opposing side finds the gap and exploits it. A deposition transcript that gets challenged on procedural grounds is expensive for everyone.

What I try to bring to a Zoom deposition is pretty straightforward: I show up on time, I know the oath, I follow a structured identity verification protocol before anything begins, and I keep the session documented the way it needs to be. I'm not there to participate in the substance — that's counsel's job and I stay firmly on my side of that line. My job is to make sure the procedural foundation is solid so that the attorneys can focus entirely on the witness.

The thing that surprised me most when I started doing more remote deposition work is how little attorneys want to talk to the officer beforehand. Which is understandable — you're busy, you've got your outline to review, the deposition is in thirty minutes. But a two-minute check before the witness enters the room can prevent the kind of problem that takes two hours to sort out afterward. Is the recording going? Is identity verification complete? Are we aligned on how we're handling exhibits? Small things that become big things if they're not handled.

I've worked with litigation firms in San Antonio who now just put my number in their calendar when they schedule a remote deposition. That's the relationship I'm trying to build — not a transaction, but a standing arrangement where they know the officer piece is handled and they don't have to think about it again. The legal admins especially appreciate this. They're the ones actually coordinating the logistics, and they don't need another variable to manage on the morning of a deposition.

Bexar County litigation has a pace to it. Personal injury, insurance defense, family law with contested property — the docket moves and the depositions move with it. If your firm is scheduling remote witnesses on any kind of regular basis, it's worth having someone in your contacts who you know will answer, will show up on time, and understands what the officer role actually requires.
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That Tuesday morning paralegal? They're on my regular call list now. Haven't had a last-minute scramble since.

(Rick Puente, Texas Notary Public since 2006.)