ZOOM Meetings
A New Era of Forensic Video Litigation

By James R Jenkins. November 3, 2020

Conducting a Zoom Video Deposition

ZOOM Meetings
A New Era of Forensic Video Litigation

The Corona Virus has changed everything in the United States, the way we do business, the way we interact with clients and experts and the way we conduct video depositions or client/expert conferences. Forensic Video Law provides a safe and easy solution that enables you to continue moving forward with your case using remote video technology via ZOOM.

Ease of Use:


We make it simple; just send us the notice and email addresses of all that are attending and we will provide everyone a direct link to your meeting. Click on the link and follow the simple instructions to turn on your video and you are ready to go. If you are conducting your Zoom interview on a laptop or computer you are not required to have an account or download any applications. Just accept and click, but you will of course need a working webcam and microphone. The ZOOM app will download a small temporary program onto your computer to be able to use it but again, you do not have to do anything other than click on the link and follow the instructions.


We do suggest that you download the ZOOM app on your device if you use ZOOM a lot for ease of use and if you are using an iPhone or Android phone you will have to download the app from the app store to operate the program. This is a free app, only takes a couple of minutes, and is very easy to use no matter where you are as long as you have some decent service.


Quality:


Many attorneys and paralegals are somewhat familiar with ZOOM, an interactive video-based program that allows multiple users to speak with each other in the safety and convenience of their office or home. What you may not know is that these video depositions and conferences can be captured in full HD, 1920x1080, so when you play them back at trial or mediation you have the best quality presentation possible for the same price as your amateur ZOOM operators.


Forensic Video Law has the ability, through advanced recording systems, to capture and record in full HD. Additionally, we record on several separate devices in case there is a technical cliche due to the internet being overrun that day or the actual ZOOM recording feature malfunctions. You do not want to have your dynamite deposition testimony lost in digital space and have to try and reset a deposition with multiple attorneys, or have your witness look like an old nasty VHS recording. We have discovered that many court reporting firms actually only video the screen of a laptop or computer when they conduct their ZOOM depositions/ conferences and put a microphone next to the speaker instead of doing it the right way, recording directly from the video source so there is no degradation in video quality or sound. Again, the quality of the recording is essential and this is the wrong way to do it so beware.


Professional Forensic Guidance:


If you try to run a ZOOM meeting yourself and conduct a deposition at the same time it can be overwhelming. Mistakes are made and you cannot focus on conducting the deposition or conference because you are only one person. Our team of forensic videographers take that stress away by setting everything up, making sure the witness looks great and ensure that when you go off the record for a discussion it is off the record! We cannot tell you how many attorneys that tried to conduct their own meeting have told us they forgot to turn off the mic and their whole discussion was recorded and heard by the other side or they forgot to hit the record button so they went through a 2 hour deposition and have nothing to show for it, ouch! That is why they use us today. We not only record on multiple machines, we monitor all attendees video, audio and requests.


Price:


ZOOM meetings do not cost more than a standard deposition or video conference. On the contrary, they are much more cost effective. You can be at your office, home, in your car or at an airport to conduct these meetings and never miss a beat. This saves you travel time, hotel rooms, car rentals and the list goes on. Our standard rate for a ZOOM deposition is the same as a regular video deposition, $199 for the first hour and $99 for each additional hour. We will upload the video via Dropbox or through the ZOOM applications cloud storage so you will have the HD files within 3 days and there is no charge for an expedited file for those last-minute presentations.


Questions:


Our team is available to answer your questions so please email us if you need help. It looks like this is going to be the norm for video depositions and conferences for the foreseeable future and to be honest many of our attorneys now prefer to do some of their video exhibits this way. It saves time, money and if you do it right you get a high-quality product that gets the job done.



Final Thoughts:


Although ZOOM does allow recording, we strongly advise against relying only on this means of recording to capture the video portion of the deposition for the following very important reasons.


  • Our videographers will ensure they record and capture only on-the-record testimony and they will record with multiple capture devices and monitor the proceedings from start to finish. This ensures that only intended video testimony is being recorded.
  • The videographer can also alert participants of connectivity issues that might interfere with capturing the complete video record, which are not always apparent to all of the zoom participants.

Call the experts at Forensic Video Law today to schedule a remote, Zoom Video Deposition!

904-716-5149