There are many reasons why a law firm may want to invest in an onsite deposition room. One being a dedicated space to meet with clients and partners; or even to prepare for a trial. At VisionPoint we have noticed the demand for trial simulation rooms increase, along with the need for deposition rooms equipped with AV technology to handle the needs of Law firms for both the pre, and post-COVID world.

Professional Fit & Finish, with Optimal Functionality

Individuals familiar with the legal process understand that depositions play a crucial role. That’s why a space built for the specific purpose of depositions require a space that is comfortable for groups of any size, and the necessary equipment and technology for support.

Several considerations are to be made such as recording equipment when recording an interview, AV tech for remote depositions, and acoustical treatment for privacy. The use cases and intended purposes will ultimately drive the design for the room, but these spaces can often double as a video conferencing/huddle room.

Supporting Special Purposes: Trial Simulation

Apart from a deposition room, we have found that some large law firms have invested in larger spaces to simulate trials, especially when preparing for big cases.

A trial simulation would usually require a larger room to fit all necessary parties during a mock trial. During Covid many trials took place virtually, and large spaces may not be necessary, or efficient to simulate an effective mock trial.

Considerations may include the ability to record high quality audio and video, acoustic treatment, a separate room to watch the feed from the simulation room, and other AV tech that may support the need to connect personal devices and share mock evidence to a projector.

We would suggest standard touch panels to control lighting, and a retractable projector for sharing content. Remember that these spaces can also be configured for real trials if they are held virtually, as well as meetings and presentations. The key to getting the most out of a large investment such as this would be to fit the space with technology that supports multiple purposes other than just trial simulation.

Room Control & Management

Controlling important aspects of the space such as lighting, speaker volume and microphones will be very important to the success of the design. A lawyer should be able to walk into the room and set the controls easily without having to spend time going through a manual just to dim the lights. Centralized controls will help depositions, or even remote trials run smoothly, and without distraction.

Essential Sound Reinforcement

Ensuring that each person is legible to all audiences (in the room, or video conferencing in) will mostly depend on sound reinforcement. Equipping the room with proper acoustic treatment, high quality microphones and speakers should do the trick. The important part is to take the size of the room into consideration.

One useful function that we have successfully deployed for some of our clients is Voice Lift. This function simply helps to avoid strain on the speaker’s voice, and allows for speech to be intelligible in every part of the space.

Adaptive EQ can also help maintain clarity during the session. Too much low-end on an EQ may cause a user to sound muddy or “boomy”, ultimately making it difficult to hear consonants, and certain aspects of speech. When speech becomes unintelligible users may get frustrated having to repeat themselves many times or worse…things become misheard, and there is great risk when it comes to depositions for misunderstanding.

Adaptive EQ may also help uses who have very low-pitched voices. Let us say a Female is called to the stand. Since females generally have high pitched voices, we may not need to increase frequencies around 1KHz to 5KHz, which can help to improve clarity. If a microphone’s EQ is tuned for a male’s voice, especially that of a male with a low voice, the female speaker may sound very harsh, and abrasive because we boosted 1K-5K hertz for the male speaker. Adaptive EQ can help to avoid these issues, making the experience smoother between users and audiences.

For questions about designing a deposition room for your law firm or even to refer our services, please contact us here. We would love to hear about an upcoming project, or even discuss further details on how a deposition room may benefit your organization.