Information, not advice. This guide describes common practice for litigation staff. It is not legal advice. Rules differ by jurisdiction, court and judge, and orders in your case can change them. Check what governs your matter and ask your supervising attorney.
What can restrict a transcript
A transcript is not confidential just because it is a transcript. Restrictions come from somewhere specific.
- A protective order. Typically it sets designation levels, lists who may receive designated material and says what happens when the case ends. Some orders treat a whole transcript as designated for a set number of days after receipt. Some list outside vendors among permitted recipients, sometimes on conditions; others do not mention them.
- Privilege and work product. Testimony given in front of the other side is a different thing from your summaries, annotations and questions to a tool. Whether disclosing those to a vendor affects any protection depends on the jurisdiction and the facts. This guide does not answer it.
- Professional duties and client instructions. Lawyers owe duties of confidentiality, and clients and insurers sometimes add rules of their own. Ethics guidance on generative AI tools has been published by the American Bar Association and several state bars.
What to read before you send anything
-
Identify what you hold
Is it certified or a rough draft? See rough draft vs certified. Which pages were designated, and at what level? Which exhibits are attached?
-
Read the protective order
Look at the designation levels, the permitted recipients, any acknowledgment to sign, the period after receipt, sealing, and return or destruction at the end of the case.
-
Read the client and firm instructions
Outside counsel guidelines, an insurer's rules and your firm's policy can be stricter than the order.
-
Read the tool's terms
Look for what it retains and for how long, who can access it, its sub-processors, whether inputs train models, and what happens when you delete. Business terms often differ from consumer terms.
-
Get a decision from the supervising attorney
The decision is theirs, not the tool's and not yours. Record it, with the date and the terms that were read.
-
Send no more than the job needs
Many teams send only the pages required and keep a note of what went where. Transcript formats shows what each file carries.
-
Check the output before relying on it
Output can be wrong or incomplete. Verify every quotation and cite against the certified transcript.
Questions and where the answers are
| Question | Where to look | What to find |
|---|---|---|
| May this transcript go to a vendor? | Protective order; client instructions | Permitted recipients, any acknowledgment, the designation level |
| Is the whole transcript treated as designated? | The order's transcript clause | A period after receipt when everything counts as designated |
| Does the tool keep what you send? | Terms, privacy policy, data processing terms | Retention period, deletion, who can access |
| Does the tool learn from it? | The same documents | Training on inputs, opt-outs, business versus consumer terms |
| Who else handles it? | The sub-processor list | Cloud hosts, human review, processing location |
| Who decides? | Your supervising attorney | A recorded decision |
What goes wrong
- Mixing up consumer and business terms. They often differ. Read the terms that apply to your account.
- Taking a marketing page for a contract. A security badge or a home-page promise is not the agreement. Read the agreement.
- Pasting designated pages into an unapproved tool. A protective order governs how designated material is handled, however convenient the tool.
- Forgetting derived material. Many orders reach copies, excerpts and summaries of designated material, so a summary may carry the designation.
- Reading “deleted” as “gone everywhere”. Backups, logs and human review may remain. Check what the vendor says about each.
- Leaving no record. If nobody wrote down who approved what, nobody can show it later.
How DepoScript helps
DepoScript's own handling is in the privacy policy: files are processed in memory and deleted after conversion, pages that need a second look may go to Google's Gemini API (Google's terms allow retention of up to 55 days), and uploads are not used to train models. That covers this service only, and it is not a promise about privilege. If a transcript must not go to a service run by Google, do not upload it. Try the converter. Free: 1 file per day, up to 10 pages, no account. See pricing.
Questions
Is a deposition transcript confidential?
Not automatically. Confidentiality comes from a protective order, a designation under it, a sealing order or a duty to the client. Check which apply to your transcript.
Why are whole transcripts sometimes treated as designated?
Some protective orders treat an entire transcript as designated for a set number of days after receipt, so that portions can be designated. The order in your case sets the period.
Can I paste a transcript into an AI assistant?
That depends on the order, the client, your firm's policy and the tool's terms. Deposition summary with AI puts that question first, and nothing there answers it for you.
Does using a vendor waive privilege?
This guide does not answer that. It depends on the jurisdiction, the kind of material, and the vendor's role and terms. Ask your supervising attorney.
What should I look for in a vendor's terms?
Retention and deletion, access, sub-processors, whether inputs train models, where data is processed, breach notice, and what happens when an account ends.
Is there ethics guidance on lawyers using AI?
Yes. The American Bar Association issued Formal Opinion 512 on generative AI tools in 2024, and several state bars have published guidance. Read your jurisdiction's current guidance.
What does DepoScript do with an uploaded transcript?
Files are processed in memory and deleted after conversion, and uploads are not used to train models. Pages that need a second look may go to Google's Gemini API, whose terms allow retention of up to 55 days. See the privacy policy.
Keep reading
- Transcript file formatsWhat PDF, text, PTX and Markdown copies of a transcript keep, and what each is for.
- Rough draft vs certifiedWhat a rough draft is good for, and why cites must be re-checked against the certified transcript.
- Deposition summary formatsPage-line, topical and narrative summaries, and which reader needs which.
- All twelve guides