1. Civil Litigation:
Process and Procedures
Chapter Three
Technology in Civil Litigation

2. Technology in Litigation
 Document preparation
 Maintaining client databases
 Keeping client & office accounts
 Electronic communications
 Research
 Document filing
Civil Litigation: Process and Procedures © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458.
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3. Typical Law Office Uses
 Word processing
 Electronic spreadsheets
 Time & billing programs
 Accounting programs
 Calendaring/docketing
 Graphic presentation software
 Trial presentation software
Civil Litigation: Process and Procedures © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458.
All Rights Reserved.
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4. Law Office Uses, cont.
 Internet search engines
 Databases
 Document scanning
 Document searching
 E-mail & electronic document delivery
 On-line collaboration
 On-line document repositories
Civil Litigation: Process and Procedures © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458.
All Rights Reserved.
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5. Document Storage
 In order to share information with
courts, clients, opposing counsel &
other firm offices, it must be available
through remote access
 Transmission via e-mail
 CDs & DVDs
 Servers
 On-line document repositories
Civil Litigation: Process and Procedures © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458.
All Rights Reserved.
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6. Delivery
 On-line security concerns differ from
hard copy concerns
 Intentional hacking
 Security at remote sites, such as public
courthouses
 Security between firm offices
 Secure communications of confidential
information to clients
 Accidental forwarding or “reply all”
Civil Litigation: Process and Procedures © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458.
All Rights Reserved.
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7. On-line Storage
and Collaboration
 Various members of a legal team need
to access material
 Between firm offices
 Between in-house and outside counsel
 Between all members of the team
 On-line collaboration software permits
several people at remote locations to
manipulate the same information.
Civil Litigation: Process and Procedures © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458.
All Rights Reserved.
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8. Secure Remote Access
Civil Litigation: Process and Procedures © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458.
All Rights Reserved.
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9. Computer and
Network Security
 Workstations connected to a network
are potential sources of
 Tainted software
 Viruses introduced via the internet
 Intentional tampering
 Network administrators can limit access
 Block unauthorized software installation
 Protect the file server from hackers
Civil Litigation: Process and Procedures © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458.
All Rights Reserved.
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10. Firewalls and Encryption
 Firewalls are designed to protect
individual computers or servers
 They protect the server by blocking viruses
 Care must be taken to not block remote
transmissions from the offsite locations
 Encryption programs use algorithms to
scramble documents, rendering them
unintelligible to anyone without the key.
Civil Litigation: Process and Procedures © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458.
All Rights Reserved.
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11. Computer Viruses
 May be introduced in tainted software or via
the internet
 Can create minor inconveniences or major
headaches
 Destroy data
 Corrupt computer components
 Can be deterred with virus protection, which
must be updated frequently to protect against
the newest virus
Civil Litigation: Process and Procedures © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458.
All Rights Reserved.
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12. Federal Rules
of Civil Procedure
 December, 2006 revision
 Acknowledges the increased use of
electronically stored documentation
 Addresses the issue of document retention,
without providing precise guidelines
 Permits electronic searches for “smoking gun”
documents
 Documents must still be screened for “non-
discoverable” material
Civil Litigation: Process and Procedures © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458.
All Rights Reserved.
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13. Technology Support
 In-house IT staff may be
 An attorney
 A paralegal
 A secretary
 An office friend
 A knowledgeable relative or child
 An IT expert hired for that purpose
Civil Litigation: Process and Procedures © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458.
All Rights Reserved.
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14. In-House IT Staff
 What services are required inside the
office?
 Buying, training, maintaining, repairing
equipment
 Long-range planning & emergency
accommodations in trial preparation
Civil Litigation: Process and Procedures © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458.
All Rights Reserved.
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15. In-House IT Staff, cont.
 What range of services are required
outside the office?
 Deposition videotaping
 Access to home files on the road
 Presentations in courtrooms
 What are the obstacles?
 Support & training
 Necessary, compatible equipment
 Ability to handle heavy graphic/video/audio files
Civil Litigation: Process and Procedures © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458.
All Rights Reserved.
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16. Outside IT Consultants
 May be hired
 Solely for maintenance or repair purposes.
 To consult in choosing appropriate hard- &
software for the desired applications
 To perform “help desk” & training duties
 To create presentations, databases,
spreadsheets
 To operate equipment in trial
Civil Litigation: Process and Procedures © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458.
All Rights Reserved.
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17. Outside IT Issues
 Must be able to work within the parameters
of the firm’s equipment & budget
 Must understand the importance of
confidentiality
 Must not present an obvious conflict of
interest
 Must agree upon ownership of presentations
created for the firm
Civil Litigation: Process and Procedures © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458.
All Rights Reserved.
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18. Courthouse Technologist
 May help
 Determine what audio/visual or computer
equipment is available in which courtrooms
 Set-up at trial
 Determine compatibility with firm systems
 Help by-pass or reduce extensive security
clearance checks for equipment brought to
court.
Civil Litigation: Process and Procedures © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458.
All Rights Reserved.
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19. Outsourcing Tasks
 Ordinary, recurring office functions
 Payroll
 Taxes
 Client accounts
 Billing
 Service provider should have a system
that is compatible with the firm’s
Civil Litigation: Process and Procedures © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458.
All Rights Reserved.
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20. Competency
 IT staff must be aware of ethical
constraints & evidentiary issues:
 Confidentiality of client information
 Privileged communications
 Assigning law office staff, such as a
paralegal, to guide IT staff &
consultants can prevent an ethical
violation from occurring.
Civil Litigation: Process and Procedures © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458.
All Rights Reserved.
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21. Confidentiality and Privilege
 Confidentiality is a broad, ethical concept:
lawyers & their agents may not reveal any
client confidences without the informed
consent of the client.
 Privilege is an evidentiary issue prohibiting
lawyers & their agents from testifying against
a client about matters in which a client has
sought legal advice. The privilege belongs to
the client, not the lawyer.
Civil Litigation: Process and Procedures © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458.
All Rights Reserved.
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22. Work Product
 Narrower than attorney/client privilege
 Protects materials prepared in
anticipation of litigation from Discovery
 Found in Rule 26 (B)(3) of the Federal
Rules of Civil Procedure, and Rule 16
(B)(2) of the Federal Rules of Criminal
Procedure.
Civil Litigation: Process and Procedures © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458.
All Rights Reserved.
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23. Exceptions
 Client waiver
 In extreme situations, to prevent a crime of
violence
 May include serious financial harm, if the lawyer’s
services are involved
 In order to correct a loss stemming from a crime
or fraud in which the lawyer’s services were used
 When the client sues the lawyer
 Upon a final order from a tribunal of competent
jurisdiction
Civil Litigation: Process and Procedures © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458.
All Rights Reserved.
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24. Extension of
Privilege to Agents
Civil Litigation: Process and Procedures © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458.
All Rights Reserved.
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25. Conflict of Interest
 Although paralegals, as members of the legal
team, must be considered in conflicts
checking, outside IT consultants are not
clearly covered.
 Consultants do not offer legal advice
 They are, however, privy to trial strategy &
confidential information.
 Should be certain the client’s interests are not
jeopardized, and perhaps even obtain informed
consent in a case of direct conflict (or seek other
assistance!)
Civil Litigation: Process and Procedures © 2009 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458.
All Rights Reserved.
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