SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwired - Sep 29, 2015) - Today, Opus 2 International released the results of its inaugural survey of litigation practices, examining trends in evidence management, case analysis and collaboration among litigation professionals. The survey report, entitled Case Team Collaboration in the 21st Century: A Report on Litigation Work Product, Workflow, and Technology, also explores the potential of new cloud-based tools to help legal teams prepare for motions, depositions and trial, with specific attention to managing transcripts and the evidentiary record, and collaborating on related work product. Amongst other findings, the survey reveals that 89 percent of litigation teams report that the methods they are currently using to access and manage case documents and transcripts from outside the office are more likely to hinder, rather than help, collaboration. The complete report can be downloaded at http://bit.ly/1iwQ1QM.
"The survey confirms what we've suspected for some time: legal professionals may be able to realize significant benefits from the use of cloud-based workspaces for collaboration," said Graham Smith-Bernal, Founder of Opus 2 Magnum. "The survey results should give litigators a better understanding of their own technology gaps, and indicate areas in which twenty-first-century tools can help fill those gaps and simplify legal workflows and processes."
The survey was conceived in the wake of three significant developments in the practice of law: growing pressure on legal departments and law firms to demonstrate value and efficiency to clients, dramatic increases in the use of mobile devices amongst attorneys, and recent resolutions to amend the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct with a requirement to keeping up with technology relevant to the client and the representation, and also by protecting electronically stored confidential client information as an explicit duty for every attorney.
The survey results reveal a striking disconnect between the high value respondents place on collaborative work on the one hand and the largely unsophisticated tools and methods they use to perform this work on the other hand. Seventy-nine percent of law firms still use "old school" methods, with only 9 percent classifying these methods as "easy." The report suggests that litigators are frustrated with the tools they currently use to analyze evidence, manage cases and collaborate with team members, and the profession is poised to adopt more advanced technology that accommodates an increasingly mobile workforce and demands for greater efficiency.
Results and Key Findings
The survey generated responses on how thoughts and ideas are compiled, how case-team work product is shared among team members, and which tools and methods are used for this work. Among the key findings:
- Old-school methods are still used in litigation
- Default tools are primitive, yet teams are increasingly dispersed and performing collaborative work has become more complex
- Team collaboration is common and valued
- Legal teams' "intellectual property" is not nearly as secure as it should be.
For more details and graphics you may download the complete survey here: http://bit.ly/1iwQ1QM.
About Opus 2 Magnum
Opus 2 Magnum is a private, cloud-based workspace from which litigators, co-counsel and experts share transcripts, key documents, exhibits, video and research and collaborate on work product for deposition and trial preparation. The collaborative workspaces unite team members so they may jointly, or individually, dissect the salient aspects of testimony and evidence, develop questioning strategies and organize the material to be presented to the court. Version 5.0 includes a streamlined interface and significant enhancements to various aspects of its document, exhibit and transcript functionality for US and international users. The new code benefits from Opus 2 Magnum having been field-tested for several years in court rooms and arbitration centers around the world. To date, clients have used Magnum for all stages of the litigation lifecycle -- from deposition preparation, to meet and confer conferences to collaboration around discovery requests and litigation preparation.
About Opus 2 International
Opus 2 International is the only worldwide legal services company that blends sophisticated cloud technology with court reporting excellence to modernize evidence management during high-stakes matters across the globe -- including litigation, arbitration hearings, depositions (US) and government inquiries. Last fall, the Opus 2 Magnum™ service won the coveted top honor in the 'Innovative Solution Provider of the Year' category for the 5th Annual Distinguished Peer Awards sponsored by the International Legal Technology Association (ILTA). The company is comprised of experts in capturing testimony and uniting it with key litigation content. The collective team of seasoned consultants, case managers, software developers, technicians and independent court reporters are uniquely positioned to protect the integrity of both the record and the evidence and to deliver intuitive tools for their careful analysis. Opus 2 International is headquartered in London just 200 meters from The Royal Courts of Justice, The Rolls Building, and the International Dispute Resolution Centre, and offers regional offices in San Francisco, New York, Dubai, Paris, Hong Kong and Singapore. Visit opus2.com or call +1 888-960-3117 for more information.
Contact Information:
Brenda Mahedy
bmahedy@opus2.com