COURTECHFORUM

If you’re considering moving your practice into the 21^st century and are finally acquiescing to the fact that technology does indeed belong in the courtroom, you may be pondering the purchase of a document camera. If so, here’s a checklist regarding features that you may want in the forefront of your decision-making process when it comes to this innovative technology:

• Portability. If you’re purchasing a document camera to bring back and forth to and from court you’ll need the device to be comfortably portable. Consider whether the it can fold down to a smaller form and make sure your purchase includes a carrying case.
• Image quality. A document camera won’t do you any good (and may even possibly cause you harm) if the quality of the images it displays is poor. Sounds like common sense, but the critically important element sometimes gets overlooked. Check the Read the rest of this entry »

For those purists out there we’ve compiled a list of some classic courtroom dramas should you want to take a trip back in time to recall courtroom trials where technology was the farthest thing from anyone’s mind (except maybe in Judgment at Nuremburg where technology in the form of headphones played a key role).Arranged in no particular order or ranking, merely offered for a trip down memory lane and as a checklist Read the rest of this entry »

If you’re on the bandwagon as to whether or not technology should be allowed in the court room, consider this: it’s hard to fathom an image of Judge Lance Ito without seeing his two open laptops presiding right smack dab in front of him in the O.J. Simpson murder trial of 1995. You bet there was technology at play in that courtroom; and if my memory serves me correctly, I believe he even stopped proceedings at one point to take a brief call from his wife (I know this because I used the incident to my advantage when telling my husband he should never be “too busy” at work to take my calls if Lance Ito can do it on national television, so can he). But I digress.Technology is here to stay. And if it can be photo documented back to 1995, that means it’s been around for a minimum of 15 years and anyone holding on to the belief that it’s a passing fad or “unconstitutional” (while secretly hoping they’ll be able to retire before having to learn the “new fangled”‘ stuff, well, you better believe it’s Read the rest of this entry »