# Prepare a deposition outline for a witness

Builds a topic-by-topic examination outline with goals, questions, exhibits, and admissions to lock in.

- Topic: Legal & Compliance
- Framework: Few-Shot
- Level: Standard
- Tags: Legal, Plan, Fill-in Template
- Source: https://www.thinkwithprompt.com/prompts/prepare-a-deposition-outline-for-a-witness

## Prompt

```text
Help me prepare a deposition outline.

**Witness:** [name, role, relationship to the parties, friendly or adverse]
**Case summary and claims/defenses:** [SHORT]
**What I need from this witness:** [e.g. "admit receipt of the notice", "establish timeline", "lock in lack of knowledge"]
**Key documents / exhibits:** [LIST with IDs and one-line descriptions]
**Known facts and prior statements by this witness:** [SUMMARY]
**Time available:** [e.g. "7 hours"]
**Jurisdiction / rules:** [court and any limits]

Build the outline:
1. **Goals** - 3-5 specific admissions or facts to lock in, ranked.
2. **Preliminaries** - background, preparation for the deposition, documents reviewed, who they spoke with.
3. **Topic modules** - for each topic: purpose, exhibits to use, and a sequence of short, single-fact questions moving from open ("what happened") to closed ("you received this on March 3, correct?").
4. **Exhibit plan** - when to introduce each exhibit and the foundation questions needed.
5. **Lock-in questions** - exhausting the witness's knowledge ("anything else?", "anyone else?").
6. **Risk areas** - topics that could hurt us, and whether to avoid or address them.
7. **Time budget** per topic.

Keep questions short and non-compound. Do not invent facts or document contents; mark gaps [CONFIRM FROM FILE]. This is a preparation aid; the examining lawyer must review it against the record and applicable rules.
```

## What to fill in

- name, role, relationship to the parties, friendly or adverse
- SHORT
- LIST with IDs and one-line descriptions
- SUMMARY
- e.g. "7 hours"
- court and any limits
- CONFIRM FROM FILE

Free to copy and use. From ThinkWithPrompt (https://www.thinkwithprompt.com/), a library of 2,663 curated AI prompts.