Litigation tools used to be optional. As recently as the 1990s, the plaintiffs’ trial winning percentage was over 75 percent. Even unprepared litigation lawyers usually obtained good results. Since then, the plaintiffs’ winning percentage has plummeted. Today, the best litigation tools, from start to finish, are essential.
This issue is critical for personal injury lawyers. Insurance companies earn more than $1 trillion annually. So, they have almost unlimited resources with which to fight claims. No lawyer can match the resources of a multinational corporation. But David defeated Goliath because he had right on his side and five smooth stones in his pouch.
Personal injury lawyers have right on their side, too. But that’s not enough. They also need five smooth stones in their pouches. Quite simply, litigation tools at trial are like rocks in a slingshot. Legal software levels the playing field in unexpected ways — especially during discovery and mediation settlement negotiations.
Discovery legal software takes the document data dump, one of the most effective large defendant discovery pieces, off the chessboard. Many companies withhold information during discovery, so plaintiffs’ lawyers don’t find critical smoking gun evidence. But the opposite approach usually works better.
Instead of fighting over document requests and privilege logs in court at $1,000 an hour, the defendant inundates the plaintiff with documents and other information. The smoking gun is in those documents, but finding it is like finding a needle in a haystack. So, the plaintiff, not the defendant, wastes time and money.
Discovery software, especially AI-powered discovery software, quickly filters all these documents to find the one puzzle piece that enables a plaintiff to present a strong case.
Legal software also plays a critical role in mediation. In most cases, the mediator is a silent friend or a silent enemy. An effective mediation presentation that goes beyond PowerPoint slides brings dry court documents to life and gives a mediator a timeline to follow. As a bonus, the plaintiff has total control over this timeline.
As a bonus, a slick presentation during mediation shows the other side that the plaintiff is loaded for bear. The defendant knows that the CaseCrafter mediation presentation is the tip of the iceberg when considering the program’s total capabilities.
We mentioned the low plaintiffs’ winning percentage above. In this environment, the best available tools are critical. If an underdog football team took the field wearing flip-flops, it’d have no chance of winning the game. Plaintiffs are underdogs. They must do whatever they can to even the odds during trial.
Furthermore, juror expectations have changed since the old days. When jurors see large high-definition monitors, they expect to see high quality, professional-grade presentations on those monitors. A color-coded interactive timeline fits the bill. Furthermore, CaseCrafter’s hidden display dashboard enables lawyers to manipulate this demonstrative evidence in real time without relying on glitchy courthouse WiFi.
On a related note, strong demonstrative evidence, like a CaseCrafter timeline, is often part of the record. When appellate judges consider cases, they focus on legal matters, not demonstrative evidence. But these judges are people too. Like everyone else, compelling video grabs their attention.
An experienced lawyer who lives with a case for months or years often forgets how overwhelming the case is to inexperienced nonlawyers. Case Crafter Legal Timeline Software presents all facts and events in an easy-to-digest format. Even better, the user-friendly interface allows lawyers to build a timeline and manipulate it (highlight points, bring up timely videos, etc.) in real time.
Basically, TranscriptPad loads .txt or other deposition transcripts and touch-optimizes them. This conversion allows lawyers to add highlights, tags, and comments. Other functions of this trial preparation tool include keyword generation, exhibit linking, report generation, and Bates Number recognition.
However, in terms of overall functionality, TranscriptPad is very limited and primarily used for in-house written deposition transcript organization.
Twenty years ago, Trial Director was the flagship trial preparation and presentation tool for lawyers across the country. But times change. TrialDirector’s foundation is an all‑in‑one tool for presenting documents, photos, videos, depositions, and annotations. A few customization modules are available, as is a limited case presentation function.
Wayne Manor cannot be built on a tiny home’s foundation. Similarly, TrialDirector has added so many functions over the years that the foundation can’t support them all. Furthermore, all these added features make TrialDirector almost impossible to learn, unless the user attends a seminar or other program. Finally, it’s fundamentally designed for use with pre-smartphone technology.
Launched in 2023, CaseCrafter is a lawyer-designed platform that replaces TimelinePresenter, another popular trial presentation tool. Think of Case Crafter as a high-functioning TrialDirector that incorporates TranscriptPad and other key trial preparation tools. CaseCrafter fully integrates document review, media handling, timeline creation, tagging, and presentation.
Before we go further, we should address the different ways lawyers and jurors think. Lawyers think conceptually (negligence, product liability, etc.) and jurors think linearly (a-b-c, 1-2-3, etc.).
CaseCrafter’s foundation, an interactive timeline, strikes a cord with people who think linearly. Users can automatically or manually generate timelines that include tagged facts and custom filters. Lawyers then link deposition excerpts, trial exhibits, and demonstrative exhibits to the timeline. Jurors keep everything sorted in their minds, and the litigation lawyer basically tells them how to sort things.
The program uses a closed-loop LAN that’s completely secure and doesn’t rely on spotty courtroom WiFi. CaseCrafter is designed to be built on a laptop or desktop and presented using an iPad, but other devices are compatible as well.
The courtroom iPad dashboard uses a familiar drag-and-drop dashboard which allows lawyers to highlight certain parts of the timeline in real time. Jurors only see the display, not the dashboard, so presenting lawyers look like tech wizards. CaseCrafter’s biggest asset, its novelty, may also be its greatest liability. The program is so new that many of its functions aren’t battle-tested.
From the moment a client walks in the door to the moment the jury delivers its verdict, litigation tools for lawyers often make a huge difference in a case. Ample choices are available, and no blog or top-ten list can make those choices. Attorneys should consider their needs, their caseloads, and their resources before they select the best litigation tool for lawyers.
Old-school lawyer tools include investigators and focus groups. Investigators find evidence that supports key claims and defenses. Focus groups and mock juries help lawyers strike the right chord in court. Software tools include Lexis, Westaw, CaseCrafter, and Clio.
Trello may be the most popular organizational tool for lawyers. Trello is a project management tool that utilizes a card-based system to organize tasks and projects.
Most litigation tools for lawyers include AI enhancements. For example, the tried-and-true Westlaw platform recently rolled out WestlawSearch, an AI-driven search engine that displays relevant legal precedents.
For a solo practitioner, cost effectiveness may be the most important quality of a litigation tool. But beware that you get what you pay for. Other considerations include ease of use, overall capabilities, and software purpose (e.g. is it litigation timeline software or something else repackaged for that purpose).
