Category Archives: Trial

It’s my policy to not promote products in this blog, but today is an exception. I’ve gone through a transition over the past  several months regarding a new experience in trial preparation. For many years  I have  relied upon two hole notebooks for all of my trial materials. I should have bought stock in Bindertek who makes the notebooks  I use because I’ve purchased  so many of them over the years. See:  www.bindertek.com.

I put my  trial prepration and trial materials  in different  colored notebooks depending  upon whether it is witness’s materials, discovery, cross examination,  briefs, exhibits and so on. Not only is the color a great organizational tool, they also come in different sizes and, best  of  all, because they are two hole  they do not make a snapping noise when you open and close them in court the way three hole notebooks do. They are also much easier  to open and close than three hole notebooks.  I  have hauled these notebooks in brief cases  around  the  country and have had them in boxes under the audience benches in court rooms during trials and at pre trial motions. We determined how big our cases were by the number of  notebooks we used.  I am still a big promoter of Binderetek notebooks and continue to religiously use  them.

However, while I still follow the  practice of organizing the hard copies of materials  in notebooks and will have the notebooks available at trial, I have been  introduced to a wonderful way  to use the Apple I-pad with two Apps that have made a huge difference in how I organize and use  trial materials. Both are available at the Apple Store. www.apple.com.  One App is TrialPad  which costs $89.99 and is worth every penny and more. The other is TranscriptPad which costs $49.99 and is equally a bargain price. Lit Sofware is the creator www.litsoftware.com It should be noted that  the purchase price for both comes with free (and very prompt) support and all updates  are free. There are no subscription fees, no registration cost and no annual maintenance costs.

A simplistic description of the purpose of each is this: TranscriptPad is  made to use  in organizing depositions and exhibits and TrialPad is intended  for court  room presentation of trial materials and exhibits. Both of these products are strong for reporting, organization and searching. Take  a look at You Tube for better descriptions about the use of these products.

Why am I enthusiastic about these products? For two reasons. One is because, at the moment, I have two large  entire cases stored in my single I-Pad using these products.  That includes every pleading, motion, brief, deposition, trial brief, jury instructions, photograph, video and  exhibit of every kind. When I travel or go to court I have the entire cases  in my I-pad and I can easily access  the  documents because they allow detailed organization within the Apps. I am not packing brief cases full of documents around, but rather only the hard copy I need such as the proposed orders on motions or documents I want to show the court. However, if  I wanted to I could project the document from the Ipad  to a screen or TV in the court room. I  have the assurance of having the entire file with me without having to have the physical materials and  I can access it quickly and easily in a  single Ipad device.

The second reason is that TranscriptPad allows such excellent organization and designation of discovery testimony. It has  features  which allow me to create color coded issues  and highlight deposition testimony saving under an issue heading. I can print reports of the designated testimony in a variety of  ways including by issue. I can also export the work product by document or even the  entire file to another device with TranscriptPad. I can e-mail designated testimony as well. That  allows me  to send portions of a deposition to a video tech as an instruction of  what parts of  the video deposition I need for court use.

In  addition, TrialPad has such excellent features  for designiating parts  of a deposition or exhibit and  enlarging it as a callout for projection on a screen or  TV or for  use  in other ways. It includes many features for presenting the materials while putting the entire file in a device I can hold in one hand with the ability to find files  quickly.

Here’s is an overview of how I am using these products. I subscribe to a  software called Dropbox.  www.dropbox.com This software allows one  to  simply and easily transfer documents from your computer to your I-Pad. While  there is a free version I pay  a low monthly fee for a version that allows transferring  more volume for my cases. One thing to note, however, is that we use  a  different sofware, Box for transferring medical information because it offers security  that Dropbox doesn’t offer. See www.box.com

Here’s how it works. Documents which are E-mailed to us  or those created in our  computers are saved and then easily  moved into Dropbox program in the computer. Other documents are scanned into the computer.  Once deposited they are wirelessly transferred through WiFi and  deposited in the Dropbox in my I-pad. I open them in the Ipad Dropbox and quickly move them to either TranscriptPad or TrialPad. Simce Pdf is required for these  products, I will originally save them in the  computer in that format or, if in some  other format like Word,  in my I-pad move them from Dropbox to another App  I have downloaded  to my  I-Pad: IAdobe through the Apple store. See www.adobe.com  This App  has  features I like including conversion of documents into a Pdf  format and from there moving  it easily into either  TranscriptPad or TrialPad.

Since both Apps allow detailed organization (in color) one can locate documents quickly as needed. I now travel or go to court with an I-Pad and even though I will have my Bindertek notebooks in the court room during the several weeks  of  trial  I won’t be hauling them home every night. In  mid-May my wife Lita and I are traveling  to Botswana for a photo safari. I plan to take with me my Amazon Kindle for reading and my I-pad for my mail  and with two entire cases loaded  in the device. Furthermore, on  this trip I’m taking my mini-IPad which has duplicate case material instead of the full  size Ipad. Isn’t it amazing?  Two small (5″ x 8″) devices.  One with a dozen books electronically stored for my reading  and the other with two large cases with every paper stored in it. I don’t have to take either one out at the security checkpoint and  with a small backup battery as well as a portable WiFi connection I am prepared as possible.

I know that many of you will be saying  to yourself: “He’s just now discovering all  of  this? What rock has he been living under?”  But, I thought I’d share my personal discovery for the few that aren’t aware of the advantages and  would like to investigate it. Unfortunately, I don’t get any kick back or a free anything from the makers of  these products. Check them out.

My good friend Don Keenan is not only a great trial lawyer but a generous one.  He freely shares his ideas about trial  practice. His blog is a source of helpful ideas which I look forward to. See: http://www.keenantrialblog.com/ At the risk of Don accusing me of plagiarism I would like to call your attention to his last posting “The 7 Rules of Safety Rules. He captures the concept so well it ought to be required reading for all plaintiff trial lawyers.  I think it important enough to give you a very brief summary. See Don’s blog for the full article.

His first rule is to put “safety” in the rule. He says to always use the word safety before the word rule: “Safety rule No. 1.”

His second rule is that it must be short and simple.

His third rule is that it should be aspirational and not negative. He explains it is the difference between sayings “Tractor trailer drivers must not be unqualified to drive their rigs” and “Tractor trailer drivers must be qualified to drive their vehicles.” The first is negative and latter positive.

His fourth rule is what he calls the rule of 2 “P’s” The rule has to say what conduct is to be “prevented” and who the rule “protects” – the two P’s.

His fifth rule is that it “must awaken the reptile.” By that he means it must protect the public, the community, everyone etc.

His sixth rule is that it must first prevent and then protect. He says the structure of the rule must always state the conduct that is being prevented first and second who the safety rule protects.

His seventh rule is that cadence counts. That is the wording of rules should end with the same language. If you used “protect” that should be consistent.

So, here’s an example of a proper rule Don gives: “Tractor trailer drivers must be qualified to drive their rigs so as to protect all in the community.”