Prior to 2020, only about 5% of our reporting firm’s depositions were virtual (or remote). The technology to conduct remote proceedings without specialized equipment was young, and the practice of law is steeped in tradition, adopting changes only at a glacial pace. Love them or hate them, virtual proceedings came to the rescue of the otherwise halted legal system during the COVID-19 pandemic. As the safety concerns stretched into a second year, most all litigators conducted them, and virtual became mainstream.
Even with experience hosting virtual depositions, early efforts were clunky to be sure. Our firm rapidly organized around best practices, setting expectations and ironing out wrinkles in the experience. Keep reading.
Devising Depositions: Readback’s Monthly Meet and Confer
As normalcy returns, courts may require more than COVID-related concerns to justify a change in deposition location.
As society grows more accustomed to life with COVID, so too has our judicial system. This is both good and bad news for remote depositions. The good news is that judges are no strangers to the health and safety benefits virtual proceedings provide. The bad news, however, is that, given the circumstances of a case, merely mentioning “COVID” might not be enough to change the location of a proceeding or turn an in-person deposition remote. Extenuating circumstances and increased familiarity with safety measures such as face masks and social distancing may afford greater leeway for courts to enforce in-person appearances so long as the deposition is properly noticed.
In Punturo et al. v. Kern, et al., a matter stemming from a noncompete dispute that later involved allegations of antitrust and defamation, the defendant, Attorney Brace Kern, cited COVID-related concerns on appeal of a lower court decision denying his motion for a protective order to avoid an in-person deposition. This motion was made despite… Keep reading.
Breaking the Cycle of Steno Fatigue
“A lawyer’s time and advice are his stock in trade.” —President Abraham Lincoln
Attorneys may hold dominion over the advice they give their clients, but not necessarily their time. We know all too well that time may rest at the mercy of matters far beyond one’s control. Despite the best of intentions and reparation, attorneys find themselves playing the waiting game, a reality which leads to yet another quote you may have seen on a t-shirt or two: Being lawyer taught me patience and lots of swear words.
Perhaps, nowhere is this more apparent than when it comes to court
reporting. Coupled with a well-documented court reporter shortage, reliance on the outdated stenograph machine has put attorneys in an endless cycle of frustration. Keep reading.
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Readback Takes Aim to Disrupt Court Reporting Market with AI-Powered Active Reporting and One-Day Certified Transcripts
An innovative, new deposition experience that helps litigators deliver tangible differences for their clients
SPRINGFIELD, MA – (March 7, 2022) – Readback, the industry’s first AI-assisted court reporting technology platform with Active Reporting capabilities, announces the company is taking aim to disrupt the court reporting market by providing better client outcomes and a better user experience at a fraction of the time and cost of stenography. Readback is powered by a proprietary Multi-Intelligence Service Team (MIST)–a combination of human transcriptionists and AI–to deliver a high-quality transcript for attorneys to view and use in near time during proceedings to improve client outcomes as well as a certified copy of the transcript within 1 business day. Continue reading in the Readback Newsroom…
Adapting to Remote Justice
By Shane Carew
COVID-19 has shocked the legal system in ways that are yet to be completely understood. One area changed almost immediately: adoption of remote technology to conduct the judicial system’s business King County Superior Court Judge Judith Ramseyer observed: “In four to six weeks, superior courts went from conducting most hearings in person to conducting our essential hearings by telephone and video.” Similarly, and just as quickly, depositions and mediations pivoted to remote participation.
Where Will You Be When…?
Here’s a little thought exercise. If you had the foresight to see the rise of
Netflix circa 2006, you’d probably notice that it overtook a competitor that couldn’t get out of its own way, was slow to embrace technology, and was preoccupied with unnecessary fees that ultimately made customers sour on its product. Sound familiar?
In a report from the American Bar Association, consultant and managing
shareholder at MesaFive, LLC, Prescott Blane highlighted the changing
landscape of the legal profession: Nonlaw firm providers are gradually taking work away from law firms, Prescott says, noting the three primary competitors are accounting firms, consultants and contracted lawyer services. “They tend to impact the middle and lower market the most,” he says. Read the full article.
InfraWare Announces “Readback” Deposition Reporting Service
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
St Louis, Mo., October 12, 2021: InfraWare, Inc., a leading documentation technology and services firm, announced a new category of deposition reporting services called Active Reporting with the introduction of Readback, at the annual Maximum Lawyer Conference today.
“The Active Reporting category, and Readback in particular, solve the many, compounded problems associated with stenographic reporting services,” said CEO, Nick Mahurin. “We have reimagined deposition reporting by bringing more than a decade of machine learning experience and a refreshing business model to leverage our court reporting group’s experience…” Continue reading in the Readback Newsroom…
Conduct depositions remotely with these virtual technologies
BY NICOLE BLACK
Two years have passed since the onset of the pandemic, and no matter how you look at it, things will never be quite the same. COVID-19 changed everything. In many cases, the only way for lawyers to continue to practice law and maintain business operations during the pandemic has been to take advantage of remote working technologies.
Many attorneys initially intended to use these tools in their firms on a temporary basis. But as the pandemic persisted, legal professionals began to adopt more robust and permanent software solutions into their firms to enable their employees to work from any location, as needed. As mask mandates are lifted across the country, many firms are reopening their offices, and it remains to be seen which remote working processes will be permanently adopted. A few categories of remote work, however, will likely continue despite the return to the office. Read the full article on the ABA Journal website…
What are Stenographic Means?
Active Reporting involves at least three compliance determinations: Can proceedings be conducted remotely? Can the oath be administered remotely, and by whom? Is the method of capturing the testimony compliant? In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, rules relevant to these questions were modified with rapid speed and depth, both temporarily and permanently, to keep justice moving. Remote proceedings and oaths became mainstream.
Rule 30 in some jurisdictions specifies that testimony should be captured “by stenographic means”, and the pandemic didn’t drive a need to revise that language. As the new category of Active Reporting grows, how can we assess compliance with that governing rule? Keep reading…
Are Virtual Law Firms the Future?
The first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic hit the legal community hard. Cases came to a startling halt while the world adjusted to a mostly remote work environment. When cases began to move forward again,
Basic Deposition Tips for Attorneys
Whether you are new to taking depositions or are just looking to brush up on your skills, this article outlines our top seven tips for preparing and taking a deposition.
Behind the Curtain: How Readback Works
Active Reporting is changing the deposition landscape. Most litigators are content
to enjoy the benefits by learning how to use the revolutionary Readback service
effectively to advance their cases
What You Don’t Know Can Hurt Your Client: Why You Should Care Who Sees Your Deposition Transcript Before It’s Delivered
So you’re in a rush to find a court reporter for a last minute deposition. Somehow, after spending a day searching with no success, you finally luck into securing a reporter on short notice. Now, we’ve already discussed the headache of court reporter shortages, long turnarounds, and add-on fees. But there’s another elephant in the room you might not have considered.
Here are a few questions for you . . .
When you hire a court reporter is there a security plan? Does that reporter have a completely different plan than the agency that made the assignment in the first place? What obligations and responsibilities do either have with respect to your client’s sensitive information?