Technology litigation

Technical terminology preparation

The unglamorous work that decides whether a technical transcript can be quoted in a brief without a correction in the middle of the key answer.

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What gets built

A job dictionary, before the date

Specialized terms are entered ahead of testimony so they are written correctly the first time rather than reconstructed afterward from audio.

Names spelled correctly

Parties, counsel, witnesses, engineers, and experts. A misspelled name in a deposition transcript is the first thing a reader notices and the easiest error to have prevented.

Products and internal vocabulary

Product names, internal codenames, system and module names, third-party libraries, and version numbers — the terms that exist nowhere public and that no reporter can infer.

Subject-matter terms

Claim language, algorithm and architecture terms, statistical and evaluation vocabulary, part numbers, and the units that go with them.

What to send

Source material for the glossary

Nothing here is mandatory. Each item makes the transcript measurably better, and they are listed roughly in order of how much they help.

  • The complaint and operative pleadings.
  • Asserted patents and claim charts, where the matter is a patent case.
  • Expert reports and any deposition transcripts already taken in the matter.
  • The witness list, with titles and correct spellings.
  • A party and counsel list, including anyone expected to appear on the record.
  • The protective order, if one governs the testimony.
Preparation

How the glossary gets built

What do you need in advance to prepare terminology?
The pleadings, any asserted patents, expert reports, the witness list, and a party and counsel list with correct spellings. Claim charts, protective orders, and prior deposition transcripts in the same matter help as well. More is better; anything sent is used.
How far ahead does material need to arrive?
A few days before the deposition is comfortable. Material that arrives the night before still helps, but dictionary work is more thorough when it is not competing with the calendar.
Is the material kept confidential?
Yes, and where a protective order governs it, handled under that order. Preparation material is used to build the job dictionary and is not retained beyond what the matter requires.
Does this matter if we are not ordering realtime?
Yes. Preparation improves the certified transcript whether or not anyone reads a live feed. What realtime changes is that unprepared terminology becomes visible immediately instead of at delivery.
What happens to a term that was never provided?
The reporter asks on the record for a spelling when the moment allows it, which is the correct outcome and a small interruption. The alternative — a phonetic guess corrected in errata weeks later — is what preparation exists to avoid.

Technical witness on calendar?

Send the materials with the notice. Preparation is part of the job, not a line item you have to ask for.

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