Peer to Peer Magazine

19 WWW.ILTANET.ORG BEST PRACTICES Electronic Courtrooms in Singapore and the U.K. Inspire U.S. Collaboration in the Cloud proceedings, the U.K.'s Ministry of Justice is leading ambitious initiatives designed to modernize its courtrooms and criminal justice system nationwide. As Graham Smith-Bernal noted in a February 2016 Legaltech News article, its goals include: » Digital case files for every case » Universal e-filing » Electronic information sharing across the criminal justice system » Using electronic trial bundles available before trial » And a range of other case management tasks that would almost eliminate the need for paper copies The common thread in these developments is cloud-based legal collaboration technology, which requires minimal upfront investment in infrastructure and can be rapidly scaled up or down to meet the unique requirements of each case. a projected printing load of 252,000 sheets of paper was reduced to a paltry 2,500 to 3,000, at an estimated savings of approximately $40,000. Another example can be found at Maxwell Chambers, Singapore's state-of-the art venue for alternative dispute resolution and the world's first integrated dispute resolution complex. Two major international arbitrations held there recently made use of cloud-based technology that provided lawyers and their clients access to key discovery documents, exhibits, research, testimony (including audio, video and transcripts), aorney work product and other litigation- related materials through a secure web-based interface. Authorized users could log in 24/7 and collaborate on annotations, organize materials into custom folders, share notes and insights with colleagues, and create hyperlinks between passages and documents to establish logical connections and build winning arguments — and they could perform these tasks in real time during the entire proceeding. Modernization in the U.K. In a 2011 multibillion-dollar dispute in the U.K. between two Russian businessmen, Roman Abramovich and Boris Berezovsky, the parties were required by the Commercial Court Guide to collaborate via cloud technology in the creation and management of electronic trial binders. The case generated a trial bundle of over 5,000 e-discovery documents in multiple languages and hundreds of expert reports and case law citations, applications and motions, real-time transcripts, exhibits, witness statements and more. More than 100,000 pages of documents were made accessible via a cloud workspace to the judge, witnesses and the five parties involved in the litigation. The cost of printing just one of the seven complete sets of documents required under ordinary circumstances was estimated at €26,000 (over $29,000). According to an Addleshaw Goddard Litigation Newsleer, nearly 19,000 hyperlinks were created by legal teams, saving countless hours of siing through mounds of printouts in preparation for questioning and construction of legal arguments. In the wake of the dramatic efficiencies and cost- savings achieved during the Berezovksy v Abramovich A projected printing load of 252,000 sheets of paper was reduced to a paltry 2,500 to 3,000, at an estimated savings of approximately $40,000.

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