Digital Practice of Law

In Court Presentation

Show and Tell. "Technology captures jurors but frustrates some judges and lawyers. Judge Mary Lisi of the U.S. District Court in Rhode Island keeps her eyes glued to two flat-screen panels on the bench. One displays evidence. The other displays testimony translated from the court reporter's shorthand into English in real time. With an optical mouse, the judge flags key testimony and makes notes on the screen. . . "

Entertaining the Jury

Lawyers' new credo: Keep it entertaining.  "To rouse a sleepy juror, Center City lawyer Jim Griffith once nearly fell into the jury box to humorously convey a wordless message: "Pay attention. This is important." Tom Kline, another lawyer in town, relies on high-tech imagery to keep jurors alert and intent. He uses PowerPoint, animation and a special gizmo called a Smart Board to present evidence. And he likes to show TV documentaries to paint compelling portraits of his clients. While lawyers have been trying for millennia to put on a good show, modern technology and the era of the high-profile trial have raised jurors' expectations higher than ever. . . "

In Court Presentation

Trial by touchscreen. "COLUMBIA, S.C. — Every word spoken in the courtroom where Branden Basham is on trial for his life appears immediately before U.S. District Judge Joseph Anderson on a computer screen. . . "

England Upgrades the Courts

(4-16-04) 57 Crown Courts now have improved e-communications, 53 still to fix. "More than half of all Crown Courts in England and Wales now have a new IT infrastructure to speed up the delivery of justice. . . Modernised courts now have sophisticated IT and networks and, in many cases, facilities for the presentation of electronic and video evidence. The value of this new technology has been highlighted at the Central Criminal Court during recent high profile cases, most notably at the trial of Ian Huntley and Maxine Carr when evidence and court proceedings were displayed on large plasma screens around the court, in the jury box and in a nearby media annex. The technology provides staff with secure email facilities to share information with other criminal justice agencies . . .

InCourt Technology Saves Time

(4-12-04). New courtroom technology speeds justice"The gadgets in an episode of the Jetsons cartoon series are no match for the technology in 410th state District Judge Michael Mayes' courtroom. From satellite feeds connected to the jail to displaying evidence for jurors, new courtroom technology is clearing the overloaded courts with a newfound efficiency.
"As far as I know, my courtroom is the only one in Texas that uses all the forms of technology," Mayes said Thursday. Harper's Landing residents at a temporary injunction hearing last week experienced the benefits first hand. "We had a full court that wanted to know what was going on," Mayes said. "So we used the video visualizer to post the documents up on the television screens." Witnesses in the hearing also viewed documents on a screen in the witness box when answering questions from the lawyers.
In a neighboring courtroom, an overflow crowd watched the hearing live from a satellite feed in the main courtroom. The 410th District courtroom contains seven television screens, including a couple in the jury box, allowing jurors to view evidence up close while it is being discussed. "It saves us a ton of time with jury exhibits," Mayes said. "We used the screen in a murder trial to show the jury bullet striations."

LCD and Elmo Rentals

Boxlight - LCD and Elmo rentals available. http://www.boxlight.com/legal/

Presenting from a PDA

For an excellent article on presenting from a PDA See Brett Burney's Presentations Without a Laptop. http://www.llrx.com/columns/legaltech16.htm