How to cite a deposition or trial transcript (page and line)
You're quoting testimony, from a deposition or from a trial. How do you write the page and the lines, what do you do when the answer runs onto the next page, and does anything change once the transcript is part of an appellate record?
If your court prints its own transcript form, reply below with the rule.
The team’s answer
Short answer. Write the page, a colon, then the line or lines. If the passage runs onto a later page, give a full page:line at both ends of the range. Start with a short name for the transcript. On appeal, find out whether the court wants the appendix or record page, because several courts do.
The form [Convention]
143:22-24 means page 143, lines 22 through 24.
143:22-145:10 runs from page 143, line 22, to page 145, line 10. Each end of the range carries its own page number.
Separate passages are joined with a comma.
Real examples (from the liability opinion in United States v. Google LLC, No. 1:20-cv-03010 (D.D.C.), ECF No. 1033, filed August 5, 2024; printed pages 12–13)
A trial transcript, two passages, the second crossing a page:
Tr. at 4485:3-12, 4485:22–4486:14 (Chang).
A deposition passage that crosses a page:
Giard Dep. Tr. at 23:16–24:7.
A deposition, two passages far apart:
Christensen Dep. Tr. at 15:12-14, 142:12-18.
In a federal court of appeals [Requirement]
References to parts of the record contained in the appendix go to the appendix pages. A reference to an unreproduced part goes to the page of the original document, as in the rule's own example, "Transcript p. 231." The rule allows "only clear abbreviations." Fed. R. App. P. 28(e).
Circuits with their own transcript form [Jurisdiction-specific]
Fifth Circuit, for electronic records on appeal: "ROA," a period, the record page, then a colon and the lines: ROA.143:22-24, or ROA.143:22-145:10 across pages. 5th Cir. R. 28.2.2 and the clerk's record-citation guidance (Fifth Circuit Form 1).
Eleventh Circuit: record references give document number and page number. In a transcript, that is the page number in the header generated by the district court's electronic filing system, "if available at the time of filing"; failing that, the court reporter's page number. The brief notes which reference format it uses. 11th Cir. R. 28-5.
In the trial court [Requirement]
On summary judgment, a party asserting that a fact cannot be or is genuinely disputed must support the assertion, and one way the rule allows is citing "particular parts of materials in the record, including depositions." Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c)(1)(A). A page:line pinpoint tells the court exactly which part.
Common mistakes
Citing the transcript page in a circuit that asks for the appendix page or the ROA page.
Citing a page with no lines, which leaves the judge to read the whole page to find the answer.
Switching between page:line and another style, such as "p. 12, l. 4," within one brief.
Read more
The Court Documents chapter (its opening is free to read): https://citationcode.com/book/court-documents (opens in a new tab)
Real court-document citations, each checked against its source: https://citationcode.com/examples/how-to-cite-court-documents (opens in a new tab)