Law Times

PAGE 14 MARCH 10, 2014 • LAW TIMES www.lawtimesnews.com Tablet transcription technology introduced in court Wireless software offering real-time access 'a lot like using Word' FOCUS ireless iPad real-time transcription technology moved into Ontario courts for the fi rst time in Decem- ber 2013 with the introduction of Live- Deposition local so ware for the trial proceedings in Molson Canada 2005 v. Miller Brewing Co. " is technology is truly wireless. ere are absolutely no wires going from the court reporter's work to the delivery of the real-time transcript on counsel's receiving device," says Kimberley Neeson, owner of Toronto's Neeson & Associates Court Reporting and Captioning Inc. While LiveDeposition is the only real- time transcription so ware that works on the Mac platform, it also works seamless- ly with Android, Kindle Fire, and other mobile devices as well as with traditional proprietary so ware systems like Livenote and Summation. Lawyers who don't have litigation so ware on their courtroom devices can view real-time transcripts on LiveDeposition's built-in real time viewer. As lawyers get the transcript, they can mark it up, bookmark it, save it, e-mail it, and open it directly in LiveDeposition. "Even a lawyer who doesn't have ad- ministration rights and therefore may not be able to download the so ware can still use our web view and bookmark the transcript as well as export and import it," says Steven Genter, a California-based director of LiveDeposition.com. Neeson & Associates is responsible for bringing LiveDeposition to Ontario and has trained its reporters in its use. As it turns out, LiveDeposition's local product (the one used in the courtroom) was built specifi cally for reporters. " e advantage of our local system is that any court reporter with any court re- porting so ware can use it," says Genter, who notes there has been a "steady up- take" of LiveDeposition since the release of the local version in November 2013. Neeson lauds the product's ease of use. AVAILABLE RISK-FREE FOR 30 DAYS Order online: www.carswell.com/bl Call Toll-Free: 1-800-387-5164 In Toronto: 416-609-3800 EXTENSIVELY UPDATED AND EXPANDED WITH SEVEN NEW PRACTICE AREAS Now in a two-volume set, this new edition of Bullen & Leake & Jacob's Canadian Precedents of Pleadings brings you extensive updates in the law and precedents and features the addition of seven new practice areas and eleven new topical chapters. Learn from Canada's top litigators on how to draft accurate, clear and compelling pleadings. Compiled by an extraordinary team of Canadian lawyers in 16 practice areas, this indispensable resource provides expert commentary and a set of well-structured precedents that give you a valuable head start on drafting your pleadings. The accompanying CD-ROM provides electronic versions of the precedents and access to the full-text case law referenced in the book. To learn more about the contributing authors, please visit www.carswell.com/bl ORDER # 985539-65203 $450 2 volume hardcover + CD ROM approx. 1500 pages October 2013 978-0-7798-5539-1 Shipping and handling are extra. Price subject to change without notice and subject to applicable taxes. INDISPENSABLE, AUTHORITATIVE BULLEN & LEAKE & JACOB NEW EDITION BULLEN & LEAKE & JACOB'S CANADIAN PRECEDENTS OF PLEADINGS, SECOND EDITION BY JULIUS MELNITZER For Law Times W "It's a lot like using Word," she says. And in a world where clients are ever more cost-conscious, the technology can make for sig- nifi cant savings. "Anyone around the world with an Internet connection, a viewing device, and an invitation to the secure platform can view the proceedings as they happen," says Neeson. What that means, for ex- ample, is that an expert on the other side of the world could log in and, using LiveDeposition's video capability, watch relevant testimony from lay or other ex- pert witnesses. " e expert could even send questions or comments to coun- sel in real time without ever hav- ing to be there," says Neeson. "Even clients who can't be present can see what's going on in real time from wherever they are." Lawyers working on the mul- tibillion-dollar Nortel Networks Corp. cross-border joint trial speak to the so ware's effi cacy. "It's a very slick production with good quality, fl uid high- speed video," says Ari Kaplan of Toronto's Koskie Minsky LLP, the fi rm representing the Cana- dian pensioners in the interna- tional fi ght over the allocation of Nortel's remaining assets. "You can watch the proceed- ings at a computer located any- where with one window provid- ing a live feed and a real-time transcript in a second window right next to it." Kaplan calls the so ware an effi cient productivity tool that can assist in diverse ways. "If you want to ask questions, you have to be there live but un- less you're doing that, there's no reason you have to be there at all," he says. "In one instance, I was doing a deposition in London and com- municating back and forth with someone watching from Toron- to who was sending on notes and questions to me in real time." In its time-honoured way, however, the Ontario govern- ment, despite rhetoric to the contrary, isn't really facilitating innovation of this kind in the courtroom. " e attorney general is tell- ing parties that they can use this so ware if they bring in their own court reporter, so the only way the technology is coming in is through me," says Neeson. " e parties even have to bring in their own hotspots be- cause our courtrooms don't have the appropriate wireless technol- ogy." LT 'Anyone around the world with an Internet connection, a viewing device, and an invitation to the secure platform can view the pro- ceedings as they happen,' says Kim Neeson. Follow LAW TIMES on www.twitter.com/lawtimes

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