7 Ways Paperless Depositions Increase Attorney Productivity

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Melissa Bradley
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1 7 Ways Paperless Depositions Increase Attorney Productivity

2 Paperless depositions are a great example of how new technology can take a tedious, time-consuming, manual process like depositions, and make them more efficient and productive for everyone. Tom Mighell, Author of ipad In One Hour for Litigators Page 2

3 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction. 4 Prepare Smarter... 5 Eliminate Overhead.. 7 Reduce Travel. 9 Have Every Document You (Might) Need 11 Get More Out of Your Depositions.. 13 Distribute Exhibits Automatically 15 Secure Your Documents 17 Summary. 19 More Information. 20 Page 3

4 INTRODUCTION Paperless depositions. Perhaps the concept sounds like an interesting idea, but you really aren t sure how they might work in your firm or benefit you as an attorney or paralegal. This ebook highlights the key productivity benefits of replacing printed document exhibits with laptops and tablets and why this new technology can benefit you and your firm. Page 4

1 Prepare Smarter As attorneys, we all know that preparation is the key to conducting great depositions, yet there are many constraints that limit preparation time.

5 1 Prepare Smarter As attorneys, we all know that preparation is the key to conducting great depositions, yet there are many constraints that limit preparation time. After accounting for time spent reviewing, annotating, writing question outlines, and organizing your documents, you still need to leave enough time to print, copy, collate, and ship the document exhibits you plan to use in your depositions. Page 5

6 Paperless depositions give you an edge by making preparation more efficient and by freeing up more of your time to prepare. Instead of having to copy and ship documents days ahead of time, especially if you are traveling, going paperless lets you import all the documents you need electronically and prepare for depositions up to the very last minute. Paperless depositions let you: Upload and access all the case documents you need 24/7. Using any modern web browser (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, or Internet Explorer 10) on any system using Windows, OSX, or Linux, you can access any document you want to review, annotate, and use during the deposition. Uniquely organize your documents for each deposition. Put documents in a specific order for every deposition and assign labels to easily find the right document while preparing or in the middle of the deposition. Make private annotations and highlights on each document, which are only visible to you and your team and never show on a revealed exhibit. Re-use documents across multiple depositions in a case. Every document marked with an exhibit sticker can be used in a subsequent deposition with the same exhibit number. Documents with witness annotations can even be shared with other deponents. Page 6

2 Eliminate Overhead Today attorneys and paralegals typically go thru a last minute rush to gather, print, collate, and/or ship multiple copies of documents

7 2 Eliminate Overhead Today attorneys and paralegals typically go thru a last minute rush to gather, print, collate, and/or ship multiple copies of documents for their depositions. The time and costs associated with this process can add up quickly, especially if documents are being rushed for overnight delivery. Page 7

8 By going paperless you can free up the time and cost of preparing document exhibits. Paperless depositions let you: Reduce or eliminate paper copies entirely. Because the documents are stored in the cloud, anyone in the deposition can participate with their own laptop or tablet device. Eliminate time and money spent copying documents. Attorneys and paralegals have more important things to do than to spend their time standing in front of a copier. Eliminate the time, hassle, and worry of shipping or carrying boxes to depositions. All you need is a laptop for yourself and a tablet device for the witness; everyone else can access documents with their preferred device. Eliminate the cost of extra paper copies that are never used, and forget about disposing of confidential documents or having to bring them back with you after the deposition. Page 8

9 3 Reduce Travel Remote depositions have grown in popularity as companies and law firms look for new ways to lower operational costs. By going remote you can save on travel expenses, but that also creates new challenges for managing the deposition process. Page 9

10 Paperless depositions allow you to better manage remote depositions by providing simultaneous document access to all participants electronically, ensuring that everyone is looking at the same document exhibit during the deposition. Paperless depositions let you: Provide access to deposition exhibits from remote locations around the world, anytime, anywhere, 24/7. All you need is an internet connection. Eliminate paper copies and give every participant access to each document at the same time. Participants only see the documents you have revealed, and once you reveal a document, participants can view the entire document on their own or choose to stay in sync with the witness. Sync your screens. With the click of the right button on your laptop, you will see exactly what the witness sees, or the witness will see exactly what you see. Conduct remote depositions without revealing document evidence in advance to the opposing counsel. Remote depositions no longer require you to documents or share access to your DropBox account. Only documents that you reveal in real time are visible to the opposing counsel and witness. Page 10

4 Have Every Document You (Might) Need We have all experienced that anxious feeling in the middle of a deposition when we need a document that we can t find or don t have.

11 4 Have Every Document You (Might) Need We have all experienced that anxious feeling in the middle of a deposition when we need a document that we can t find or don t have. In the best case, you take a break to track down the document and have your paralegal fax it over. In the worst case, you have missed an important opportunity with the deponent. Page 11

12 Paperless depositions allow you to always be prepared, giving you the security of mind that you have all the documents you might need at your fingertips, even if you didn t expect to use it during this deposition. Paperless depositions let you: Always be prepared with any document you may need in a deposition without having to print out backup copies. Every document that is loaded is available for use, whether you need it or not. Search for and find the exact document you need using keyword search or label filtering, right in the middle of the deposition. Add a document at the last minute. Discover a relevant document the night before the deposition? Load the document immediately without worrying about how you re going to print multiple copies before the deposition starts. Add a document on the fly during the deposition. Forget to load a document? Call and have your paralegal upload the document from the office and it is available immediately for use during your deposition. Page 12

13 5 Get More Out of Your Depositions The ability to immediately sync the witness to the correct page using a tablet allows the deposition to flow much smoother and faster than having to page through paper documents. Eric Hurst, Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP. A lot of time is wasted in a deposition distributing documents and getting everyone on the same page to review exhibits. After waiting for the court reporter to add the correct exhibit number to the document, you still need to get the deponent, opposing counsel, co-counsel, and court reporter on the same page. And if the document doesn t have page numbers, good luck. Page 13

14 Paperless depositions allow you to better manage documents during the deposition, making sure nobody is lost and everyone is focused on the right document and right page. That allows you to spend more time on what is important: questioning and getting the information you need from the deponent. Paperless depositions let you: Share all exhibits with participants instantaneously, just as you would hand paper copies to everyone. Reveal document exhibits to the witness at the right time and only when you choose, keeping them on point and focused. Quickly mark documents with an auto-incrementing exhibit number, without asking the court reporter to do anything or worrying about which number to use. Have the witness annotate a document, which is instantly viewable by every participant in the deposition. All witness annotations are kept separate from the original document to eliminate any confusion over what the witness annotated. Access any marked document exhibit from previous depositions, without having to mark it with another exhibit stamp. Page 14

15 6 Distribute Exhibits Automatically Exhibits are immediately available to everyone in the room at the completion of a deposition. It is very convenient and saves us the expense of ordering paper copies. Eric Hurst, Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP. After the deposition, you and the opposing counsel need an official record of the deposition exhibits. This typically takes some time, as the court reporter needs to put together the transcript and combine the document exhibits into one record. Page 15

16 With paperless depositions there is no need to wait or pay for official exhibits to be scanned or sent to participants after the deposition is complete. Paperless depositions let you: Securely store all deposition documents, including both personal and official copies of deposition exhibits. Give immediate, secure access to uneditable PDF versions of the deposition exhibits to the court reporter, deponent, and opposing counsel via an automatic notification at the completion of a deposition. Store documents for an extended period of time for access at any time. All exhibits are available to you and to every participant for the duration of the case. Page 16

17 7 Secure Your Documents The current paper-based deposition process has been in place for years. What s new is that technology, specifically tablet and mobile devices, have made it possible to improve on that process, but in a more secure paperless environment. Page 17

18 Conducting paperless depositions is more secure than printing documents because only those that need access to documents can see them. Documents are stored in the cloud using the strongest security and network protocols. Paperless depositions let you: Never worry about losing confidential or sensitive documents. Laptop or ipad get stolen? While that s a major inconvenience, no documents are stored locally, so you don t need to worry about compromising your case or your client. Securely store all deposition documents using strong AES- 256 encryption algorithms that can only be seen by you or an authorized member of your firm. Protect documents by utilizing SSL to ensure all data being transferred between users and the server is encrypted. Documents are automatically backed up on a daily basis as well as offsite on a regular schedule to ensure you never lose a document. Page 18

Summary The 7 Ways Paperless Depositions Increase Your Productivity: Page 19 1 Increases the amount of time available to prepare for depositions 2 Eliminates time and money spent printing, copying,

19 Summary The 7 Ways Paperless Depositions Increase Your Productivity: Page 19 1 Increases the amount of time available to prepare for depositions 2 Eliminates time and money spent printing, copying, and shipping paper documents to depositions 3 Improves remote depositions, saving you time and travel costs 4 Provides immediate access to all documents at your fingertips 5 Improves the experience and efficiency of the actual deposition itself 6 Allows immediate sharing of documents among deposition participants 7 Provides better and more secure management of all documents related to the case and deposition

AgileLaw paperless depositions enable attorneys to prepare for depositions and manage document exhibits in one easy-to-use, cloud-based application.

20 AgileLaw paperless depositions enable attorneys to prepare for depositions and manage document exhibits in one easy-to-use, cloud-based application. Upload your case documents Prepare, organize, and annotate Reveal and stamp only the exhibits you want to show the witness Provide final document exhibit copies to all participants Page 20

21 Save Time and Money Like These Firms Fulkerson Lotz dramatically improved their efficiency with AgileLaw. Nelson Mullins saved one client $1500 in a single deposition by going paperless. Read Success Stories Page Jollyville Road, Ste 125-S Austin, TX (512)

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