Deposition Workflow

Transcribe and analyze witness testimony with speaker labels, vault storage, and cross-examination reports

What You’ll Build

A complete deposition processing pipeline that:

1. Transcribes audio with speaker identification
2. Stores transcripts in a searchable vault
3. Generates timelines of key testimony
4. Cross-references witnesses to find contradictions
5. Produces formatted impeachment reports

Time to complete: 30 minutes

Architecture

Prerequisites

• Case.dev API key (get one here)
• A vault for storing transcripts
• Deposition audio files (MP3, M4A, WAV, etc.)

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Step 1: Set Up Your Vault

Create a vault to hold all deposition transcripts for a case:

CLI

casedev vault create --name "Smith v. Jones — Depositions"

Step 2: Upload and Transcribe a Deposition

Upload the audio file to your vault, then transcribe with speaker labels:

CLI

casedev vault upload \
  --id $VAULT_ID \
  --filename "document.pdf" \
  --content-type "application/pdf"

Speaker labels are automatic. The transcription service identifies speakers by voice characteristics. Set speakers_expected for better accuracy when you know the number of participants.

Step 3: Store Transcript in the Vault

The vault-based transcription automatically stores the transcript. Now ingest it for semantic search:

CLI

casedev vault ingest --id $VAULT_ID --object-id $OBJECT_ID

For production, use webhooks instead of polling for both transcription and ingestion status changes.

Step 4: Batch Process Multiple Depositions

Process all depositions for a case in sequence:

CLI

# Process depositions sequentially
for AUDIO in depositions/*.mp3; do
  WITNESS=$(basename "$AUDIO" .mp3)
  echo "Processing: $WITNESS"

  # Transcribe
  casedev voice:transcription create \
    --vault-id $VAULT_ID --file "$AUDIO" \
    --speaker-labels --language en-US

  # Index transcript is automatic when vault indexing is enabled
done

Step 5: Generate a Testimony Timeline

Search across all depositions and build a chronological timeline of events:

CLI

# Search vault for testimony, then pipe to LLM
casedev vault search --id $VAULT_ID \
  --query "timeline of events" --method hybrid --limit 15

casedev llm:v1:chat create-completion \
  --model anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5 \
  --message '{role: system, content: "Extract a chronological timeline from deposition testimony."}' \
  --message '{role: user, content: "<testimony excerpts from search>"}' \
  --temperature 0.2

Step 6: Find Contradictions Across Witnesses

Search for a topic and compare what different witnesses said:

CLI

# Search for testimony across witnesses
casedev vault search --id $VAULT_ID \
  --query "accident description" --method hybrid --limit 20

# Analyze contradictions
casedev llm:v1:chat create-completion \
  --model anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5 \
  --message '{role: system, content: "Identify contradictions and inconsistencies across witness testimony."}' \
  --message '{role: user, content: "<grouped testimony from search>"}' \
  --temperature 0.3

Step 7: Generate a PDF Impeachment Report

Combine the timeline and contradiction analysis into a formatted report:

CLI

casedev format:v1 document \
  --content "# Report" \
  --input-format md --output-format pdf

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Complete Example

Putting it all together:

CLI

casedev vault create --name "Smith v. Jones — Depositions"

Example Contradiction Report

### Topic: When the CEO learned of the data breach

**CEO Johnson (Deposition, March 15, 2024):**
> "I was not informed of any security incident until July 15th,
> when our IT director called me at home."

**CTO Smith (Deposition, March 18, 2024):**
> "I sent an urgent email to the entire executive team, including
> the CEO, on July 12th explicitly detailing the intrusion and
> recommending immediate action."

**IT Director Williams (Deposition, March 20, 2024):**
> "The CTO instructed me to brief the CEO on July 12th. I called
> his office but was told he was unavailable. I left a detailed
> voicemail."

### Analysis
The CEO claims no knowledge until July 15th, but both the CTO and
IT Director indicate notification attempts on July 12th — three days
earlier. The CTO claims direct email notification, and the IT
Director confirms a voicemail was left.

### Impeachment Strategy
1. Introduce July 12th email as Exhibit A
2. Subpoena CEO's voicemail records for July 12th
3. Confront CEO with CTO and IT Director testimony

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Production Tips

Error Handling

CLI

# CLI displays errors to stderr with status codes
casedev voice:transcription create --vault-id $VAULT_ID --object-id $AUDIO_OBJECT_ID
# Error: 413 Payload Too Large — split into segments
# Error: 429 Too Many Requests — retry after a delay

Use Webhooks in Production

Instead of polling, subscribe to events for transcription and ingestion completion:

CLI

# Subscribe to vault events
casedev vault:events:subscriptions create \
  --id $VAULT_ID \
  --callback-url "https://your-app.com/webhooks/vault" \
  --event-type object.ingested \
  --event-type object.failed

# Subscribe to transcription events
# Your webhook handler receives status updates automatically

For long depositions (2+ hours), transcription may take several minutes. Webhooks prevent wasted polling requests.

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Next Steps

• Voice Transcription Reference — Speaker labels, language options, and more
• Vault Search Reference — Advanced search methods and filtering
• Format Service — PDF and DOCX generation
• Discovery Pipeline — Batch document processing