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Boost your case with litigation support software: this kind of computer program can help you organize discovery and testimony, keep track of your comments and analyses as you prepare for trial, and share information with others working on the case.

Article Excerpt
Litigation support software organizes large amounts of information to help you build a winning case. These programs allow you to prepare your case by searching, arranging, and outlining the evidence.

They help you keep abreast of the latest developments and incoming discovery; communicate with members of your litigation team about recent observations, analyses, and events; and share case information with various people in different locations. By allowing you to digitize case information and store it in your laptop, litigation support programs can also free you from carting around boxes of paper.

There are several litigation support products on the market, including Windows-based programs (for example, Summation iBlaze) and Web-based programs (for example, WebBlaze and CaseVault). (1) I use Summation iBlaze to organize discovery and couple it with trial presentation software such as TrialDirector to deliver a powerful case to a jury. (2)

All attorneys are not created equal, nor are all litigation support programs. When assessing various programs to determine which is best for your practice, ask whether they include the following basic elements.

Realtime technology. Realtime allows you to instantly view, search, and annotate live testimony on a laptop computer, at both depositions and trial.

Realtime lets you read back a witness's answer right away, rather than relying on the court reporter to repeat the testimony. This is particularly helpful when an expert has given a long and complex answer, there is an objection and dispute over the form of a question, or you are trying to elicit the perfect answer from the witness to support your motion for summary judgment. At any time during the deposition or trial, you can search the transcript to find specific, helpful testimony.

Rather than writing notes about the testimony on your legal pad (and there-by tipping off opposing counsel that you consider it relevant), you can quickly flag key testimony by hitting your computer's space bar. The software program creates the equivalent of an electronic sticky note in the transcript, which you can fill in later with your thoughts and issues. Your eyes never have to leave the witness.

After the proceeding is over, you walk away with a draft of the transcript on your laptop. That can be especially handy when you are deposing one witness over several days. You can update the draft later with the final, certified copy of the transcript, keeping your notes intact.

To use realtime, you will need a laptop computer loaded with software that has a realtime component, a court reporter who writes realtime (be sure to ask for one when scheduling the deposition), and a way of connecting your laptop to the equipment used by the court reporter, who should provide the necessary cables. In some states you are required to give your opposition notice of realtime use, so check your state rules when scheduling a realtime deposition.

Transcript management. Even if...

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