Carrie Titus has joined St. Louis, Mo.-based national litigation support firm, PohlmanUSA Court Reporting, as Director of Sales & Marketing. Making the announcement was Vicki Pohlman, founder and chief executive officer.

In her new position, Titus oversees all sales and marketing efforts, including existing and prospective client communications, sales presentations, strategic communications and advertising. She comes to PohlmanUSA with 10 years of experience in sales and business development.

Titus currently serves as a director for the St. Louis Chapter of Women in eDiscovery. She is membership chair for BAMSL’s Women in the Legal Profession and serves and associate/student member liaison for the St. Louis Paralegal Association.

Titus earned her bachelor’s degree in communication from Truman State University in Kirksville, Mo. and her juris doctorate degree from Arizona State University in Phoenix, Ariz.

Founded in 1990, PohlmanUSA provides law firms across the U.S. with court reporting and advanced litigation support services from offices in St. Louis, Mo. and Chicago, Ill. Its 45-member staff is complemented by a nationwide network of 340 partner-contractors. The firm offers a proprietary, online case management program called MyCase and a custom file serve solution, MyDocServe. It also operates an application service provider business, Pohlman Document Services. In 2012, it launched a document production, sharing and storage site called MyRecordsRetrieval. PohlmanUSA is Women Business Enterprise (WBE)-certified.

Nationwide, litigators finding themselves involved in increasingly complex litigation are seeking resources to gain a competitive edge in the courtroom. The latest high-tech tool in the toolbox is three-dimensional (3D) graphics and animation. The technology is akin to virtual crime reproductions frequently seen on the long-running TV series, “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.”

Near-lifelike 3D graphics and animations have been used in the courtroom dating back to the mid-1990s. As the technology has evolved in sophistication and capabilities, it also has become more popular, readily available and cost-efficient. In fact, the use of graphics and animations helped attorneys for Cross County Collaborative in the 100-day trial in their efforts to educate jurors. The jury decided in favor of the attorneys’ client, defeating Metro in November 2007.

Since roughly 70 percent of all people are visual learners (rather than audio learners), more litigators are taking the advanced “show and tell” approach to case presentation, using computer-driven animation to illustrate complex information in interesting and understandable ways. Intricate cases and complex accounts are much easier for judges and jurors to comprehend – and retain – when they can see the story as it is being explained.

Further, judges and jurors are “hardwired” to be receptive to the approach in this Digital Age, an era filled with high-definition (HD) television, computer monitors, smartphones, mp3 players, e-readers and other devices. Plus courtroom infrastructure now includes the technology needed to share the images and animations, such as HD projectors, large projection screens, monitors and DVD/multimedia players.

The 3D technologies are especially useful in certain, highly-visual practice areas, including personal injury, transportation, medical malpractice, product liability and patent infringement. And broadly speaking, there are six scenarios when animation and 3D graphics can prove particularly pivotal. They are …

• in highly-complex, technical cases,
• when time, motion or speed need to be slowed,
• when expert testimony is difficult to visualize,
• when alternative theories need to be compared,
• when it is not feasible to recreate events, and
• when a clear, visual timeline needs to be established.

Animated trial technology can reconstruct accidents, travel through a home or facility, interactively present charts, graphs and timelines, or even “tour” what happens inside the human body – down to the cellular level – to enhance understanding. In addition to adding an element of sophistication to courtroom presentations, the tools also are beneficial for attorneys during pre-trial, arbitration, mediation, settlement talks and focus groups.

An animator is needed to produce high-quality 3D graphics and animations. And plenty of support material must be submitted at the project’s start. Examples of items used to develop the 3D graphics and animations are witness and/or expert testimony; police reports; schematics; architectural drawings and blueprints; photographs; maps and satellite images; and/or computer-aided drafting (CAD) documents.

Computer-generated 3D graphics and animations are created using a three-step process: modeling; layout and animation; and rendering.

Modeling is the process by which an object’s shape (length, width and depth) is formed. Typically, 3D models are originated on a computer by an animation artist using a variety of 3D modeling tools, or the model is scanned into a computer by using actual objects.

Layout and animation places a 3D model within a scene and motion is applied. The scene helps define the spatial relationships among multiple objects within one scene, including location and size. The model becomes an animation once it is defined how a form moves through space, deforms and interacts with other forms over a set period of time. Movement is added to the model through various methods, such as applying concepts drawn from physics and mathematics to determine direction, speed and rotation; defining the “start” and “end” frames and then building the necessary transitions; and recording actual movement and applying it to the computer-generated model (a common technology used in filmmaking, video games and sports television).

Rendering adds the element of reality to 3D graphics and animations. Light and shadow are applied to each form in a process called transport. Another process, called scattering, simulates the effects of light interacting with each surface type. The rendering then is completed using 3D computer graphics software.

Fees for the emerging technology are wide-ranging, based primarily on project complexity. However, cost and time efficiencies can be achieved by supplying the artist with as much support material as possible at the very beginning. Services are billed hourly, and estimates are always provided at project start. A 3D graphic typically requires one to eight hours for development. The creation of a 3D animation can range from 10 to 80 hours or more. However, each 3D project is unique and may require more or fewer hours than the typical hourly ranges. For each, it’s good to plan ahead since it will take at least two weeks for final project delivery.

The next time litigators face the challenge of simplifying a highly complex incident or accident, 3D graphics and animation technology might provide a practical option to ensure all case participants, the judge and jury are able to develop a complete understanding of the facts of the case. The extra investment to “show and tell” a story may prove to be the tipping point for a case to be awarded in a client’s favor or serve as a practical defense against another litigation team’s use of these powerful communication and presentation tools.

Real Time MPEG Encoding replaces ASAP with NOW Published on: June 02, 2011 PohlmanUSA Court Reporting now has the unique capability to encode depositions to MPEG-1 format in REAL TIME during depositions. Attorneys can now leave a deposition with an MPEG-1 DVD in hand and start planning their presentation.

For any law firm using trial presentation software in court or at mediation, the video format required is MPEG-1. An MPEG-1 video format is a compressed file that can be imported into trial presentation software and then edited for playback. However, the video would normally need to undergo a potentially lengthy encoding process to transform it from either a tape format or MPEG-2 DVD format to the editable MPEG-1 format.

With PohlmanUSA Court Reporting’s new technology, you can now have the MPEG-1 video file in hand within minutes of the conclusion of the deposition. The attorney can take the video back to his office and transfer the MPEG onto his presentation laptop.

Taking the deposition in another state? PohlmanUSA Court Reporting can transfer the MPEG-1 file to your trial tech team via the internet allowing them to start working on your presentation right away! You need the deposition synchronized with the transcript? No problem. Once the transcript is completed, we will sync the deposition and then email the appropriate sync file(s).

Let PohlmanUSA Court Reporting eliminate another headache for you. Call us toll free at 1-877-421-0099 to request more information.

The time and money legal practitioners can save by using video conferencing to “attend” out-of-town meetings and depositions, makes the service very popular these days. But did you know the technology is going mobile? At PohlmanUSA Court Reporting, we have launched a new portable video conferencing litigation support service!

Like its traditional counterpart, portable conferencing allows multiple parties to communicate real time using a simultaneous, two-way video and audio transmission. This next generation of conferencing allows a video meeting to take place anywhere an internet connection is available – connecting up to four locations.

The process is simple. A PohlmanUSA specialist will visit the site of the deposition – be it across town or across the country – to set up the mobile video conferencing equipment that will record and stream the session live over the internet. Then all participants must do is simply join the conference from any internet protocol (IP)-capable location, equipped with video conferencing technology. For convenience, PohlmanUSA offers IP-enabled conference rooms in both St. Louis and Chicago – or we can find you one in any another city.

Significant time and cost savings are possible using portable video conferencing because, like traditional conferencing, the cost of travel and lodging is spared. With refundable plane tickets typically costing more than $300, plus daily hotel and car rental costing about $150 and $75 respectively, high-tech video conferencing can cut travel costs by more than $500 a day.

Other benefits are lower environmental impact (less travel) and the preservation of a key analytical tool – the ability of the attorney to see the physical reaction of a subject to a given question. Is the answer the whole truth or just a fraction of the truth? Another benefit unique to the portable format is the ability to interview critically ill and end-of-life witnesses from the comfort of their homes, nixing the need to travel to a location equipped with the conferencing technology.

Legal practitioners take note: advanced video conferencing is ready to go anywhere the internet can!

Legal practitioners have turned to PohlmanUSA Court Reporting of St. Louis, Mo. for cutting-edge video technology since the firm first added the service in 2002. It allows case participants to attend out-of-town depositions and meetings without spending the time or adding the expenses of travel and lodging. All parties communicate real time using a simultaneous, two-way video and audio transmission.

With such rapid advances in related technologies, the question is no longer whether to tap into video conferencing – it’s what technology to use.

Two different technologies – internet protocol (IP) or integrated services digital network (ISDN) – can be used to video conference. The principal difference is that IP video conferencing transmits voice and video via the internet while ISDN uses regular telephone lines to convey the information.

So the question is: to IP, or not IP? The pros and cons of each:

Since IP video conferencing transmits data over the internet, there are no long distance telephone charges. The technology is easier to access, and is monitored regularly by information technology (IT) personnel. Its larger bandwidth offers faster call transmission, and there is tighter data security. The downside is some older video conferencing systems are not IP-capable. Plus, the large data transmission may slow down an entire data network.

The reliance of ISDN video conferencing on ordinary telephone lines results in higher clarity and reliability than an IP solution. Additionally, the information bypasses data networks, eliminating a network overload. However, ISDN operates on a limited bandwidth, and additional line installations may be required. Plus, the status of an ISDN network is only monitored when calls are in progress, meaning a failed network could go unnoticed until it is time to place a call.

For faster connection and to avoid long distance charges, PohlmanUSA typically seeks to set up an IP-to-IP connection. What happens if some parties are not equipped to handle IP technology? No bid deal. PohlmanUSA simply arranges a “bridge” to connect it with an ISDN system. One bridge can connect up to four sites.

When ISDN service is “bridged” to an IP connection, the party using ISDN technology must initiate the conferencing call to the party/parties using IP, which means that long distance charges will apply for the out-going call. Prices for all services vary by city.

The ease, convenience and cost savings of video conferencing is making it an increasingly popular business solution for law firms across the nation. In 2009, the PohlmanUSA saw revenue related to video/ telephonic conferencing rise by 25 percent over 2008. So far in 2010, revenues for the service are up another 133 percent over 2009.

The company provides the service on a total turn-key basis. As the situation dictates, it will find a suitable facility (anywhere in the U.S.), locate and set up the equipment, schedule all parties and then invoice them for the session as mutually agreed.