Peer to Peer Magazine

18 PEER TO PEER: THE QUARTERLY MAGAZINE OF ILTA | SUMMER 2016 BEST PRACTICES Electronic Courtrooms in Singapore and the U.K. Inspire U.S. Collaboration in the Cloud Litigators in the U.S. might be unaware that fully electronic, essentially paperless, trials are a reality in other parts of the world, made evident by the recent success of electronic courtrooms in Singapore and the United Kingdom. While a few U.S. courtrooms are nominally paperless, American litigators are adopting the same cloud-based technology used in electronic courtrooms abroad, but as a collaboration tool legal teams can use as online workspaces before a case makes it to trial. Integration in Singapore Singapore's progressive approach toward courtroom technology began in 1997 with its electronic filing system (EFS), which became mandatory for all parties in 2000. Since then, EFS has been replaced by a fully integrated electronic litigation system called eLitigation, which: » Replaced PDFs with dynamic electronic court forms » Provides all parties with electronic access to case documents as long as the case remains active » As a cloud-based system, requires no installation of soware on local computers. To get a sense of the efficiencies and cost-savings eLitigation makes possible, consider a 2014 Singapore Supreme Court intellectual property dispute between Global Yellow Pages and Promedia Directories in which As electronic courtrooms burgeon abroad, litigators in the United States are using the same technology to create online global workspaces to prepare for depositions, motions and trial. by Clare Foley Electronic Courtrooms in Singapore and the U.K. Inspire U.S. Collaboration in the Cloud CLARE FOLEY A driving force in the litigation services market for more than 20 years, Clare Foley is currently vice president for litigation solutions at Opus 2 Magnum. She advises law firms and corporate clients on their cloud collaboration strategies. Originally from Ireland, Clare now lives in the U.S. and guides both US business strategies and international services for Opus 2. Clare is a contributing author to several trade publications and speaks regularly on cloud technology. Contact her at cfoley@opus2international.com.

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