Discretionary Costs
The Tennessee Court of Appeals has ruled that deposition videotaping expenses (and the cost of synchronizing the deposition with the written transcript) are not recoverable as discretionary costs under Rule 54.04 of the Tennessee Rules of Civil Procedure.
The case is Parker v. Brennan, No. M2005-01376-COA-R3-CV (April 19, 2006).
The Rule should probably be amended to allow the successful party to recover the lesser of the court reporter charge or the videographer charge. Why? Because you do not have to use a court reporter to capture testimony at a deposition; the video counts as the official transcript. Therefore, a party that elects not to have a court reporter present and to rely on the video transcript should be able to recover the cost of the videographer.
Agreed. Trial Direcor and Sanction can be used to present the deposition video at trial or hearings. But to do so effectively a transcript must be made and synchronized to the video. It's difficult to prepare a transcript from a video, but if a digital audio recording is done as well as a video recording, a transcript of the deposition can be prepared relatively inexpensively.
It is offered, "Because you do not have to use a court reporter to capture testimony at a deposition; the video counts as the official transcript."
Authority please--as this is not how I read our state rule and we may want to advocate a change
T.R.C.P. Rule 30.02(4:
"The parties may stipulate in writing or the court may upon motion order that the testimony at a deposition be recorded by other than stenographic means, in which event the stipulation or order shall designate the manner of recording, preserving, and filing the deposition, and may include other provisions to assure that the recorded testimony will be accurate and trustworthy. A party may arrange to have a stenographic transcription made at the party's own expense. Any objections under Rule 30.03; any changes made by the witness and his or her signature identifying the deposition as the witness's own, or the statement of the officer that is required if the witness does not sign, as provided in Rule 30.05; and the certification of the officer required by Rule 30.06 shall be set forth in writing to accompany a deposition recorded by other than stenographic means.
(B)Notwithstanding paragraph (A), any deposition may be recorded by audio-visual means without a stenographic record. Any party may make at the party's own expense a simultaneous stenographic or audio record of the deposition. Upon a party's request and own expense, any party is entitled to an audio or audio-visual copy of the audio-visual recording. The audio-visual recording is an official record of the deposition. A transcript prepared by a court reporter is also an official record of the deposition. On motion the court, for good cause, may order the party taking, or who took a deposition by audio-visual recording to furnish, at the party's expense, a transcript of the deposition. Any lawyer or lawyer's agent can operate the equipment.
An audio-visual deposition may be used for any purpose and under any circumstances in which a stenographic deposition may be used.
The notice for taking an audio-visual deposition and the subpoena for attendance at that deposition must state that the deposition will be recorded by audio-visual means and whether a simultaneous record will be made."
The rules then go on to provide certain rules for how to record a video deposition.