By Roberta M. Gubbins
Legal News
The days of toting banker’s boxes full of evidence to a trial are going the way of the (now extinct) Dodo bird.
Lawyers trying cases will soon walk into the courtroom with a legal pad and an iPad and nothing else. Technology is fast taking over courtrooms.
The State Bar of Michigan, recognizing this pendulum shift in technology, recently conducted a day-long, hands-on workshop to help lawyers incorporate technology into their practices.
Alex Deaconson, national sales director, and Amy Brummel, visual consultant, from DK Global, explained how to build a case for trial using the iPad .
“When testimony interacts with technology,” said Deaconson, “the jury is more engaged. Juries want to see the accident scene or the documents and are more apt to retain what you’re trying to articulate in your case.”
Deaconson described the first step, which is going paperless, “a daunting task.” He stressed the need to have the entire office on the same page when starting the new system.
He urged the establishment of measureable goals to keep the process moving from paper to a paperless office. This step, placing the documents ‘in the cloud’ making them available whenever and wherever they are needed, is necessary when using the iPad.
“Picture this,” said Deaconson, “you have a class action suit. You have people all across the United States working on the case.” Using the cloud they can have access to the information anywhere, anytime.
Deaconson predicted that “tablets will replace laptops,” just as laptops replaced desktop computers. “Right now there are some limitations but in a year, this [the iPad] will be the standard.”
Brummel, combining pictures with her discussion, demonstrated how using technology helps with communication. Juries expect the CSI effect and can relate to it.
“One in three people own a smart phone so the jury can understand when you are ‘pinch zooming’ or underlining,” she said. “Experts predict that by 2015, 65% of us will have a tablet and a smart phone. Using technology combines passive learning, talking, with active learning, seeing.”
“Become familiar with your iPad,” Deaconson said. “It takes a while to get used to it, but the more you use it in your daily life, the easier it becomes to use it in your business life.”
He likes the tablet because, unlike the laptop with the upright screen, there is no barrier between “you and the jury,” which allows the lawyer to have unblocked communication.
Because not all courtrooms are wireless, DK Global has developed the “Link Case, a small suitcase, that holds a modem, Apple TV, a projector, and all cables and chords needed for easy use. It plugs into the wall and it’s ready to go. The lawyer is no longer tethered, but is wireless.”
DK Global, he explained, designed ‘Trial Touch’ software that can convert gigs of video and images on the fly, all optimized for the iPad, allowing lawyers to present, redact, highlight, and zoom to documents at trial, project video reenactments and animations, show photographs, and assign exhibits to witnesses. It also allows for interaction between the witness and the exhibits.
Deaconson recommends bringing a wireless printer into court if it is necessary to print a document for the jury.
U.S. Court of Appeals Judge David McKeague, sixth Circuit and Bonnie Kipp, judicial assistant, spoke on the use of technology at trial.
“It works spectacularly well,” McKeague said, “and image based education is more persuasive. You are gathering complicated information and presenting it easily, recreating how jurors learn outside the courtroom. Cases presented electronically move faster, are more interesting, and comprehension is better”
He urged those using technology, “practice, practice, practice, show up in advance to make sure that all the electronics are compatible.”
What works for juries also works for judges, he noted. When asked about bench trials, he recommended using technology for those also.
Brett Burney, technology consultant, Burney Consultants, LLC, explained prepping the iPad for trial.
“On the iPad, apps are the focus, not our files,” said Burney. So how do you get your files to the iPad? There are basically four methods:
1. E-mail documents to the iPad. This method works well for manipulating one document at a time.
2. Sync documents through iTunes. When you connect the iPad to your computer with a USB cable, iTunes will sync the information.
3. Dropbox — Place the documents in Dropbox, free for 2GB of space, making them easily accessible.
4. WiFi approaches—as long as both iPad and the computer are connected to the same network.
He also discussed GoodReader app, which is a document viewer that handles .txt files easily. It is possible to use a stylus to make notes and highlight points of interest directly on
the iPad. He recommended the Wacom bamboo stylus for the iPad.
There are any number of apps for the iPad. Those discussed included:
• LawStack (free) from Tekk Innovations that comes preloaded with the U.S. Constitution, Federal Rules of Civil, Appellate, and Bankruptcy Procedure plus the Federal Rules of Evidence. A complete text of the Michigan Statutes costs $29.99
• The apps for conducting legal research on the iPad include apps from Westlaw, LexisNexis and FastCase.
• Jury tracking apps include JuryStar, iJuror and Jury Tracker
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