PohlmanUSA Deploys High-Tech Litigation Support Services to Generate Cost and Time Savings
Law firms of all sizes are feeling the recession. In its recently released 32nd annual survey, the National Law Journal (NLJ) reports that attorney headcount across the nation’s top 250 law firms declined four percent (5,259 attorneys) year-to-year. The decline is the largest reported by the NLJ since it began collecting data in 1978.
Rescuing the law firms that seek cost-effective solutions to save time and reduce expense is St. Louis, Mo.-based PohlmanUSA Court Reporting.
PohlmanUSA eases the workload of litigators, paralegals and legal assistants, increases productivity, and saves time and money with sophisticated court reporting technology and services, including its proprietary online case management program, MyCase. And with a network of trusted peers and vendors, the firm offers a coast-to-coast reach.
Below is a run-down of PohlmanUSA’s popular time and money saving litigation support services tapped by litigators and paralegals every day:
MyCase, PohlmanUSA’s proprietary, online self-help case management program, was launched in August 2009. Housed on www.pohlmanusa.com, the innovative service allows 24/7 access to full deposition transcripts, an interactive deposition calendar, service scheduling, deposition e-alerts, live chat and more. Attorneys and paralegals working at the eleventh hour have unlimited access to case materials traditionally only available during regular office hours. In fact, in its first four months of operation, MyCase was used to instantly access, order and receive 111 documents after hours. More than 2,100 total documents were accessed in the same timeframe (through Dec. 10, 2009). The service also offers an online portal for organizing hundreds of documents for multiple active cases.
Interactive realtime translation streams deposition testimony realtime on the internet, text only. PohlmanUSA users have instant access to watch the deposition, flag sections of testimony and build a case as it happens. Additionally, the deposition text is instantly searchable by word and phrase online, providing a rough transcript for case development immediately at completion of the deposition. To-date, more than 160 clients have used the service.
Video synchronization merges a written transcript with the video deposition. DepoView video synchronization software plays a deposition video simultaneously with its text scrolling on the side. The service can quickly search an entire deposition by word and/or phrase, and snippets of video are easily clipped for cost-effective trial and settlement preparation. First available in 2004, use of video synchronization technology has soared 400 percent since 2007 at PohlmanUSA.
Telephonic depositions/video conferencing allows litigators and case participants to attend out-of-town depositions without spending the time and incurring expenses associated with travel. PohlmanUSA coordinates scheduling, equipment, billing and online registration, alleviating timely phone calls and streams of emails to secure attendance. In 2009 alone, the firm noticed a 25 percent increase in its telephonic and video conferencing service.
Need a conference room for that deposition? In addition to PohlmanUSA’s use of cutting-edge technology to save time and money, the firm takes on the hassle of scheduling conference rooms nationwide for its clients … even on a moment’s notice! It is the only known court reporting or litigation support agency that offers this first-class service. In 2009, PohlmanUSA scheduled 215 rooms in 120 different cities, handling all the legwork, equipment reservations and billing. PohlmanUSA’s mastery of time- and cost-saving litigation support services has enabled the firm to nearly double its staff to more than 80 in the past two years. In 2009, the agency acquired two court reporting agencies – Diane-Carole Reporting of Chicago, Illinois and Kriegshauser Reporting & Video of St. Louis, Missouri.
