Litigation Support

Installing the program is simple. During setup, the program asks if you want to synchronize the file. This allows multiple people to work on a project simultaneously regardless of whether they are connected to the network or are working offline on their laptop. When you return to the office and synchronize the project, all of your edits are included with the updates made by others while you were gone.

The primary viewing screen is composed of six panes: “Project Outline,” “Transcript,” “Details,” “Issues,” “Word Index” and “Quick Search.” These panes are adjustable or can be closed to suit the user. When clicking on information in one of the panes, it automatically causes information in the other panes to change. This is called dynamic viewing. The viewing screen provides an easy view of all the components for managing your transcripts.

Importing transcripts is a breeze. You can import PTF, ASCII, e-transcript and PTX files. I imported ASCII transcript files that created a cross-referenced transcript and word index with page and line integrity. The program automatically created a hyperlinked table of contents of witness sections, exhibits and proceedings. After importing the file you can adjust the transcript appearance by making the questions or answers bold.

One of the navigation tools, “Word Index,” allows you to find information in a transcript. The Word Index is a list of all the words in a transcript with specific location reference where they appear in the transcript. Clicking on the location immediately takes you to the section of the transcript where the word is located. A handy shortcut to searching is to put the cursor over a word in the transcript and right click. This permits you to search for the word immediately.

Another navigational tool is the search function that allows you to type in a specific word and then provides the location in the transcript(s) where the word can be found. This search option allows for Boolean searches (searches that can include the words “and,” “or,” “not,” etc.) and “Near” or “Before” limitators. To build a search that includes synonyms, you must use a text editor and then include the saved text file list in the program.

You can customize a search to only include specified transcripts, which is important if you wish to limit the size of the Word Index and want to search the testimony of select witnesses.

Once you locate the relevant information there are several methods for annotating the information. You can use the “Annotation,” “Text” or “Issue” cursors. When you use the “Annotation” cursor, the annotation window automatically appears to insert comments, issues, dates or link an image or video where you block text. The “Issue” and “Text” cursors allow for faster coding.

Two types of reports that can be limited to specific transcripts are available in this program: An annotation report to list all annotations and a search report to display all occurrences of a word or phrase in the project.

For those who don’t want to lug around a full-page transcript, the system permits printing to a number of different condensed transcript formats.

This program supports real-time transmissions and transcript annotation, which allows you to connect your computer to a court reporter and then automatically view and annotate the witness testimony as it instantaneously appears on your computer monitor. You can quick mark testimony by pressing the spacebar or automatically preset the computer to highlight certain words as they appear on the computer. Your annotations can then be saved, and you can update the final transcript when you receive it from the court reporter.

This program doesn’t have its own database, outliner or non-transcript full-text search capability. For this reason RealLegal provides links and exporting capability for the transcript and annotations to other programs such as CaseMap, Summation, LiveNote and Concordance. A companion product, iBinder, is available for Web sharing of transcripts and annotations.

Overall this transcript program is easy to install and use. It provides the capability to manage, search and annotate transcripts and to connect to real-time reporting. If you are looking for a transcript management and real-time program this one should be considered.

RealLegal Binder now integrates with Sanction II (reviewed on Page 40). Sanction II users can download a free upgrade that includes this capability at www.verdictsystems.com.

Price: $595, single-user; $199, single-user upgrade; $475 per user for five users

Windows 95/98/NT/2000/Me

Reviewed by Michael Arkfeld, an assistant U.S. attorney in Phoenix and the author of “The Digital Practice of Law” (5th Edition).

Dec/Jan '02 Issue

PROS
Easy to install and use; easy to import transcripts; automatically creates a table of contents and provides for printing of condensed transcripts in various formats.

CONS
No database, case outlining or nontranscript full-text modules available; synonym capability difficult to build and use.

VERDICT
Good program for anyone who needs a real-time, transcript management program.

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Updated 11/30/01
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