IPH2 at the Forefront of Litigation Technology

Holland & Hart has always been a leader among law firms in applying new technologies to the practice of law. In fact, we have been recognized by Microsoft, Adobe Acrobat, Apple, Micronet, McGraw-Hill and many high-tech companies as an industry leader in the utilization of technology. In 1999, Holland & Hart was one of three finalists in the Justice/Public Safety division of the 1999 Windows World Open international competition for our creation of EZ Access, a litigation imaging database. In 1998, Holland & Hart was nominated by Adobe Acrobat for the ComputerWorld Smithsonian Award for our work on storing legal documents in portable document format (PDF). As a result, our information on using PDF to make each document in a lawsuit available both as a legally valid image and as a searchable OCR-text version has been included in the Smithsonian Institution's Permanent Research Collection. In mid-1997, we were one of only a handful of law firms to appear on PC Week's FastTrack 500, a list of the top 500 technology innovators among businesses nationwide.

Early Case Assessments, Decision Tree Analysis, Budgets and Quarterly Reports

Early case assessment is a practice we employ as a matter of routine. In the business world, decision makers regularly use risk analysis techniques to determine the sensitivity and significance of each contingency that might affect the outcome of an important decision. At IPH2, we have found the same techniques to be effective in analyzing complex intellectual property cases. Specialized training and risk analysis software from Treeage Software allows us to make the decision trees.

We also use a software program called "EasyBudget" to develop budgets early on in cases. This is a powerful program that provides you with a realistic picture of a budget for a particular case broken down into various phases from beginning to end. In addition, we always obtain approval in advance for work or expenses to be incurred, and we can provide quarterly (or more frequent, if you prefer) reports on how we are doing compared to the budget, so there are no surprises.

Finally, early in the case, we often employ case-refining techniques to improve our chances of prevailing in critical pretrial hearings and to make discovery more efficient. We utilize our in-house trial consulting and graphics group, Persuasion Strategies, to conduct mock hearings and early focus group research.

Case Management Technology

• Electronic Trial Notebooks.
  IPH2 utilizes a software program called ECCO, which provides the tools for an electronic trial notebook. This program allows accessibility of information at the touch of a key. Data included in the trial notebook ranges from witness information and master case strategies to docketing and address information.
  


• Project and Litigation Support.
  One of IPH2's biggest assets in managing client documents is its innovative use of project and litigation support software. The firm's litigation support software allows us to index documents by: 1) building a traditional bibliographic database that catalogs each document by name, date, author, and so on, or 2) building a full-text database that can then be searched by keyword. Sometimes both approaches are used. At IPH2, we use full-text searching tools to manage transcripts of witness testimony. We use bibliographic databases to track documents, exhibits, witnesses or other information pertinent to a particular project or case.
  


• Document Imaging and OCR.
  In cases involving a large number of documents, we may create an image database. This means that instead of photocopying all of the documents, the firm will scan a copy into an electronic form. The scanned images are stored as a computer file but can be viewed on a computer monitor or printed on a laser printer. In addition, the firm can link each image to our litigation support database. The cost of scanning a single page is about the same as making a single photocopy of that page. The image of that page can then be stored on an optical disk or CD-ROM. Since IPH2 can press additional CD-ROM disks in-house, duplicate sets can be made for anyone who needs them. The cost of producing an extra disk is considerably less than the cost of photocopying the same number of pages. This is a cost-effective method of improving our productivity. Imaging is also an excellent tool for managing and presenting documents during a negotiation or at trial. Instead of having stacks of boxes of trial exhibits, IPH2 can store all of the documents on a computer disk. We can then call up a particular exhibit with a wave of our magic (electronic) wand. We can zoom in on important passages or highlight them in color. The judge, jury, witness and opposing counsel can all see the document clearly on monitors sitting before them.
  

The firm hired its first full-time jury consultant in the mid-1980s. By 1990, it had added a graphics center. Today, through its Persuasion Strategies division, IPH2 offers graphics, animations, virtual reality exhibits, digitized video and electronic courtroom presentation services. Persuasion Strategies also offers services such as mock trials, judicial research, jury selection analysis and case strategy consultation. We are confident that you will find that the wise application of technology tools in litigation and other matters provides a huge return on investment. Persuasion Strategies consists of:

• A full-service court room that we use for arbitrations and mock trial sessions.
  


• A six-person graphics/video group capable of producing a range of multi-media exhibits ranging from simple charts to complex animations to digitized video.
  


• Two of the nation's top trial consultants, Drs. Karen Lisko and Shelley Spiecker. Drs. Lisko and Spiecker specialize in intellectual property litigation and have conducted research and case strategy on numerous cases involving several hundred jurors. Dr. Lisko is President of the American Society of Trial Consultants and Dr. Spiecker is Chair of the Society's Standards Committee.
  


• Comprehensive litigation and arbitration consulting services through the expertise of consultants, attorneys and graphic artists.