A practical guide for understanding the various elements of the litigation support industry and how litigation support technology can be incorporated into your practice. The Litigation Support Guide was written by paralegals and IT professionals with over 75 years of collective experience in litigation and technology. The focus of the Litigation Support Guide is on education about the technology available in the industry. We will tell you what it is, when to use it, and how much you can expect it to cost.

The Litigation Support Guide is organized into 13 chapters. Each chapter provides useful information to help you effectively utilize litigation support tools in your practice. Below is a brief summary of each chapter.

Chapter 1 – Automating Litigation Support provides several case scenarios comparing the cost of manually performing litigation support to the cost of automating litigation support.

Chapter 2 – Document Review prepares you to conduct a productive review and ensures effective use of your time.

Chapter 3 - Electronic Discovery outlines what litigation professionals should know about this emerging field, including the steps involved in the electronic discovery process from locating and identifying the data to eventually producing the data.

Chapter 4 – Document Numbering discusses the various strategies and processes available for document numbering.

Chapter 5 – Document Reproduction explains the technology associated with imaging and other electronic processes and discusses the pros and cons of each.

Chapter 6 – Document Management instructs you on how to develop an effective document management database.

Chapter 7 – Depositions and Technology outlines the technology and techniques for scheduling, preparing for, taking, and summarizing depositions.

Chapter 8 – Medical Record Analysis discusses strategies behind gathering medical records and preparing effective summaries.

Chapter 9 – The Internet provides a brief history of the Internet, defines intranets and extranets, and outlines the considerations associated with utilizing these technologies.

Chapter 10 – Document Repositories discusses the benefits of both hard copy and web repositories and outlines considerations for using each.

Chapter 11 – Trial Presentation Systems outlines the options available for developing a trial presentation system from a simple foam core presentation to a more advanced multi-media presentation.

Chapter 12 – Developing a Litigation Support Plan illustrates the importance of and outlines the considerations for developing a litigation support plan.

Chapter 13 – Case Management & Knowledge Management defines and distinguishes case management from other practice and knowledge management programs and discusses the benefits of incorporating them into your practice.

Appendix 1 – In-House or Outsource? Discusses the considerations to be given when deciding to perform your litigation support services in-house or to outsource them and provides a cost benefit analysis.

Appendix 2 – Request for Proposal instructs on how to prepare and evaluate a Request for Proposal to vendors.

Appendix 3 – Software Evaluations provides a comparison of the most commonly-used litigation support programs.

Appendix 4 - Research and Investigation provides helpful hints for conducting legal research and other investigation using the Internet.