dave’s techtips
So what technologies are out there for a criminal lawyer to run their practices? uuu TRIAL DIRECTOR (ipro.com/products/trialdirector) is one of the leading trial presentation software packages available for trial lawyers. It
allows you to load in all transcripts and video evidence and organize your evidence into trial notebooks.
You
can attach, view, and link exhibits and create a witness binder and exhibit lists.
Evidence
can be presented by video clip and documents sections can be called out, zoomed and highlighted. Document sections can be placed side by side for comparisons, overlaid, and redacted if necessary.
You
can share document subsets securely with expert witnesses and consultants.
Trial
teams can share the same case notebook with team members who work from a central trial notebook.
uuu TRIALPAD, TRANSCRIPTPAD, DOCREVIEWPAD, EXHIBITPAD (litsoftware.com) is a suite of litigation tools designed for use on an iPad. This suite of applications takes a litigator through the whole process of preparing for trial, including: document review, organizing documents for trial, loading exhibits with notes, reviewing transcripts, and then organizing it all into a trial notebook for presentation in court with dynamic exhibits, call-outs, and more. uuu COSMOLEX (cosmolex.com) is a fully-integrated general and trust accounting system with practice management. This onestop solution provides you with all the systems to be compliant with both general accounting (balance sheet, income statement, accounts payable and receivable, and all other required accounting reports) as well as trust accounting (compliant with all Law Society trust accounting requirements) plus practice management (client lists, file lists, conflict checks, limitation date reminders, calendaring and bring-forward reminders, document management, email management, etc.) that a criminal lawyer needs to run both the business as well as the practice sides of their practices. uuu MICROSOFT HOME AND BUSINESS OR MICROSOFT OFFICE 365 (microsoft.com/ en-us/microsoft-365/get-startedwith-office-2021) provides you with desktop or cloud-based versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and more
to perform all the email, communication, word processing, and other functions you will need as a practising lawyer. Alternatively, you can use the Apple suite that comes installed on a Mac (Pages, Numbers, Presentations, Mail) to accomplish the same functions in a Mac environment. uuu SYNC.COM (sync.com) provides you with secure file backup, storage, and sharing based in Canada. This is a secure alternative to Dropbox that protects your practice against Ransomwear. uuu SCANSNAP IX1500 (fujitsu.com/us/products/ computing/peripheral/scanners/ scansnap/ix1500) is the scanning workhorse of the legal field. With full duplex scanning via its sheet feeder, the ScanSnap assists in taking paper documents and converting them into fully textsearchable documents that can take your practice paperless. uuu SMARTPHONE There are many excellent smartphones like the iPhone 13, Google Pixel 6, or Samsung Galaxy A32, depending on whether you prefer the iOS or Android environment. More important that the phone, I believe, is your choice of carrier and data plan. A litigator is on the road a lot: choose a carrier with great service in the area(s) where you will be operating most often to avoid dropped calls and poor reception. © 2021 David J. Bilinsky
DECEMBER 2021 / BARTALK 29
