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| TimeMap | Litigation Support |
 The folks at CaseSoft, makers of the very popular
knowledge-management software, CaseMap, have another hit on their hands with TimeMap,
their newest software release. TimeMap is a simple-to-use program, designed to create fact
chronologies that can be turned into graphics-based timelines. The graphics files then can
be converted for use as demonstrative evidence, whether printed and included in briefs or
presented as poster-sized exhibits at trial, or saved as JPEGs, bitmaps or Windows
metafiles used with presentation software like PowerPoint or Presentations, or trial
presentation software like Sanction, TrialDirector or Visionary. Since most trials
ultimately involve telling the story that underlies the dispute, TimeMap can be a very
important tool because of its ability to easily create and modify timelines, which
graphically present case information that will enhance jury retention of key evidentiary
facts.TimeMap is so easy to use that I would recommend it as the first litigation-support type product to present to any techno-phobic attorney in your firm. The key to this product is its simplicity in entering the data. For each fact in your timeline, you simply click on the “Fact” button on the toolbar, or press “Insert.” Then, you’re prompted to insert the date and then the text describing the fact. The information can be added by keyboarding, by cutting and pasting selections from other text-based files or by voice-activated dictation. Once you have completed the entry of the date and text, just click “OK,” and the entry is saved. You’re then ready for your next fact entry. As the fact entries are made, they’ll automatically arrange themselves in chronological order on the screen. The entries will appear in boxes with the date appearing at the top of the box in a shaded bar and the text in the attached box below. The boxes are linked by a vertical line to the time scale, which is automatically generated as a highlighted bar at the bottom of the page. You also can add additional text boxes to the page to add titles or additional information that you don’t want specifically linked to the time scale. Date entries may include the date, the time and even a range of dates and times. You even can include partial date and time entries. Fact and text boxes are easily edited in terms of font, size, style, color, fill and line color and style. You can select a default date style from a variety of date formats so all entries are formatted the same way regardless of how they are entered. TimeMap graphs can be up to five pages wide. As you change the number of pages you want, TimeMap automatically rescales the timeline and repositions your text boxes. The boxes can be positioned using the auto-arrange feature, or they may be aligned manually or by using a number of other positioning features. If you want to develop non-standard formats for particular types of boxes, you also can create custom templates. A spell checker is even included. I recently used TimeMap to help make sense of a situation that gave rise to a default judgment against my clients. Both the client and his insurer failed to file a timely answer, which resulted in the default. I was assigned the defense after the fact and asked to “see what I could do” to remedy the situation. I had an insured client in one part of the country and an insurance company client in another. I had to quickly gather a multitude facts from my client and his employees to figure out what went wrong on the client’s end and from the insurance carrier and its employees to figure out what happened on their end. It was clear there had been miscommunication between the insurer and the insured. Initially, each looked at the other as the culpable party. I had to figure out what happened in a matter of days so I could move to set aside the default judgment. Each client sent me factual information randomly over several days rather than in chronological order as each party did their own in-house investigation. Once I had entered the information from the initial investigation, I was able to review what had happened in a chronological fashion. When I finally had all the facts in place and had completed my investigation, I was able to export the text of the fact entries in date order to quickly draft the fact section of my brief. Using my client and witness color coding, I was able to easily isolate the specific facts for each witness to include in their supporting affidavits. I also was able to attach the timeline graphic as an exhibit to my brief. TimeMap helped me prepare an effective investigation and presentation of the facts much more quickly than any conventional method could have. |
CaseSoft, a division of DecisionQuest (888) 227-3763 www.casesoft.com Windows 95/98/2000/NT 4.0. Minimum requirements: Pentium 133, 16 MB RAM, 8 MB HDD space. $199 per individual license; quantity discounts and site licenses available. Reviewed by Bruce A. Olson Esq., managing partner, Olson Law Group, Appleton, Wis. PROS CONS VERDICT |
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