Vol. 4, No. 2, Pg. 40. Computer's Day in Court May Be Sooner Than You Think.

• Author: By Kenneth W. Lobenstein

South Carolina Lawyer

1992.

Vol. 4, No. 2, Pg. 40.

Computer's Day in Court May Be Sooner Than You Think

40Computer's Day in Court May Be Sooner Than You ThinkBy Kenneth W. LobensteinThe media today are filled with articles and advertisements for computer systems and software. The names, model and version numbers--and the prices--change so quickly that even the most ardent "techie" has trouble keeping up.

Although the parade of technology may be of interest to paralegals and legal secretaries who generate reams of pleadings and other documents, it can be dizzying and may seem only marginally relevant to busy lawyers. In the foreseeable future, however, lawyers will be using technology in exciting and highly productive ways.

Imagine a quiet Monday morning in Oconee County. A lawyer gets out of her car and walks up the courthouse steps to make final preparations for a trial that is about to begin. While other lawyers stagger in under the weight of file boxes and sample cases, our heroine removes a few thin file folders and a leatherbound portfolio from her briefcase. The portfolio is really a state-of-the-art minicomputer, the descendant of laptops and notebooks. Taking a pen from its holder on the side of the portfolio, she opens the cover to reveal a screen or "pad" and touches a switch at the top.

The pad instantly fills with the image of a table of contents. The lawyer uses the pen to touch the word Messages on the pad and waits a few seconds. Unseen by those around her, the computer embedded in the portfolio turns on a cellular phone inside the pad, dials the number for the main computer system in her Conway office, and connects her to the central mail system. In a second or two the screen display changes, with entries in outline form: Read mail - Administrative, Personal, Client, Colleagues, Urgent; Send Mail; Connect to - ABANet, Compuserve, Internet, Prodigy.

The lawyer taps the line labeled Urgent and a list of messages is displayed: one from her firm's managing partner, one from the client she will represent this morning, two from her paralegal. She taps each message in succession and reads the mail.

The last message informs her that an answer must be filed in Georgetown by the next day and gives the name of the file in which the draft has been stored. She underlines the file name with her pen; the computer retrieves the file, locates the word processing software, and displays the document on her portfolio. She notes the client's name is misspelled and draws a circle around it. The name appears in larger type on a data entry grid. She marks through the incorrect letters and prints in the correct ones...