FYI for January 2009

With the upcoming release of TextMap® 5 transcript management software, you’ll gain easy, flexible ways to link transcripts from case depositions, examinations and other proceedings to case exhibits—even on the fly. Plus, TextMap 5 will also deliver the ability to synchronize and play deposition video, which often can be more meaningful than written testimony and is a powerful addition when you're preparing for settlement hearings, mediations and trial. Read the feature article below to preview this exciting upcoming release.

This FYI also gives you CaseMap® techniques for enhancing eyewitness interviews, tips for tuning up your Bates Analyzer skills, and helpful details on the latest training opportunities.

Easily Link Your Transcripts to Exhibits and Get Synchronized Video: A Preview of TextMap® 5

Are you ready for a more convenient way to link deposition transcripts to case exhibits—even on the fly?

How about the ability to view video at key points in your transcript?

These new features are coming soon to TextMap 5, slated for release on March 2, 2009. TextMap 5 will enable you to:

• Bulk auto-link your transcript to exhibits economically through a wizard interface―no need to pay for separate linking software as with some competing products

• Directly, manually create individual hyperlinks from any text in your transcript to electronic exhibit files and URLs

• Link annotations to files and exhibits―make an unlimited number of links per annotation

• Annotate a transcript and send it as a fact into CaseMap fact and issue management software

• Import transcripts with linked exhibits and synchronized video when your court reporter provides YesLaw™ CDs and DVDs

• Embed linked exhibits in PDF reports

• Link and synchronize deposition video and clips stored on CDs, DVDs or hard drives to your transcript and annotations

• Make the most of real-time transcript feeds to TextMap available through CaseViewNet® from Stenograph®, providing exclusive RapidRefresh™ technology for automatic updates throughout the day—whether your court reporter uses a wireless connection or a serial feed

How Does TextMap Help You Succeed?

TextMap creates a searchable database of your electronic transcripts from case depositions, examinations and other proceedings. Just upload a transcript, and you can easily search, summarize, annotate and attach notes. You can also produce a variety of practical, polished reports and generate a single index covering multiple transcripts. TextMap enables you to uncover key testimony faster, collaborate more effectively with trial team members and summarize transcripts more effectively.

More TextMap advantages:

• Strong CaseMap integration helps you save time and stay organized. For example, you can send deposition facts to CaseMap for analysis, send CaseMap issue outlines to TextMap and maintain the outline hierarchy, and include linked CaseMap facts when you generate TextMap reports.

• You save money since TextMap comes at a fraction of the cost of other transcript summary tools.

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Visit Us at LegalTech New York

If you plan to attend LegalTech New York Feb. 2 – 4, be sure to stop by the LexisNexis booth to see the latest innovations coming out of our development shop. We're in Booth 100.

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Enhancing Witness Interviews with CaseMap® “Cast of Characters Debriefings”

A Cast of Characters spreadsheet can be a powerful aid during witness interviews. Even when interviewees are friendly and helpful, a Cast of Characters makes it much easier to leave no stone unturned. This case analysis tool serves as the backbone of the following examination method—one that you can simply bolt into your current interview process.

The Cast of Characters Debriefing

Step 1

Bring a printout of your CaseMap Cast of Characters spreadsheet to the interview.

Step 2

Conduct the interview as you traditionally would. The interviewee will mention various case players.

1. When these players are already listed in the Cast of Characters, check off their names.
2. When these players are not yet in the Cast of Characters, jot down their names (phonetically, so as to avoid interrupting the interviewee’s train of thought).

Step 3

Once the initial stage of the interview wraps up, use the Cast of Characters to guide further questions.

1. Review players in the Cast of Characters who have your checkmarks next to their names. Work player by player, asking the interviewee to provide as much detail as possible about each. Consider something like: “During our initial discussions, you mentioned X. Please tell me more about X. What facts do you know about X? What are the facts for which X may be a source? When you think about X, what other case players come to mind? Why? These questions should turn up additional facts, names of other key players missing from the Cast of Characters, and possible rumors to explore.

2. Then turn to the mentioned players who were not yet in the Cast of Characters spreadsheet. Confirm the spelling of each player’s name. Employ the same questions to determine what the interviewee knows.

3. Finally, discuss players in the Cast of Characters that the interviewee has not mentioned—the unchecked players. This part of the Cast of Characters Debriefing process dramatically reduces the risk of closing the interview without having extracted all relevant interviewee knowledge. As in previous parts of Step 3, work player by player. Ask if the interviewee has ever heard of X. If the answer is no, supply a few known details about X to see if they jog the interviewee’s memory. If the interviewee recognizes the player, determine the extent of knowledge.

Step 4

After the interview, use the information collected to update the Cast of Characters spreadsheet and other case analysis documents in CaseMap, such as the fact chronology.

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30-Second Skill Tuning: Use the Bates Analyzer

The Bates Analyzer in CaseMap works on the Objects-Documents spreadsheet. You can access it by going to the DocPreviewer™ panel in the navigation bar and clicking Analyze Bates Numbers or going to Tools > Case Tools > Bates Analyzer. The Bates Analyzer looks at the numbers in the Bates Begin and Bates End fields and performs several analyses to find inconsistencies, duplications and anomalies. The results dialog box gives you a summary of the analyses, as well as tabs you can click to view more detail. There's also an option to generate a report of the results.

Why not give it a try? Navigate to the Objects-Documents spreadsheet. On the Tools menu, float your cursor to Case Tools. Then, on the fly-out menu, click Bates Analyzer.

CaseMap performs the analyses and displays the Bates Number Analyzer dialog box with the following tabs: Summary, Invalid Documents, Duplicate Documents, Duplicate Page Ranges, Gaps Between Ranges and Valid Ranges. There's also an option to generate a report of the results.

In the Hawkins example case, the following summary data is generated by the Bates Analyzer:

Total Documents Processed: 32
Invalid Documents: 0
Duplicate Documents: 0
Duplicate Page Ranges: 0
Gaps Between Ranges: 7
Total Pages Skipped: 708
Valid Ranges: 8
Document Count: 32
Page Count: 79

Click the individual tabs in the dialog box for a more detailed breakdown of the information. Most of the categories are self-explanatory. An example of an invalid document would be one where either the Bates Begin or Bates End field data is missing.

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CaseMap® Training Schedule

Below is our training schedule for classroom and online classes. We also offer on-site classes. Visit our training Web site for more information.

To register for any of the above classes, please fill out this registration form (e-mail or fax to us) or call 904-373-2161 with any questions you may have.

CaseMap FastTrack: This day-long course is designed to help new CaseMap customers become power users. It is not intended for clients who have been working with CaseMap for more than a year. Topics include CaseMap strategies, sorting and searching techniques, creating great work product, and using the Send to CaseMap feature in Adobe® Acrobat® and other tools. This is a hands-on class—please bring a laptop computer with CaseMap installed.

Certified Administrator: This two-day course is specifically for litigation support, practice support and IS professionals. The course reviews how to deploy and support CaseMap fact and issue management software and TimeMap® timeline graphing software. This is a hands-on class—please bring a laptop computer with CaseMap and TimeMap installed.

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