Court reporting specialist Sellers Legal Services is launching a real-time transcription software system for lawyers, which it hopes will challenge the market dominance of the LiveNote product.
The new Briefcase system, developed in-house by Sellers, has been written as a 32-bit application. LiveNote and the other real-time courtroom system, T/A-Law, are 16-bit applications.
However, the Briefcase system is yet to be used on a live hearing. Staff at Sellers said they expected it to be used on an upcoming case, although nothing definite had been arranged.
Although the Briefcase system will initially be similar to LiveNote, Sellers development staff said its 32-bit architecture would allow them to build a network capacity for the application. They said it would also let them provide video synchronisation with text transcripts without post-production.
Real-time transcription systems such as LiveNote and Briefcase allow lawyers to access the text of live testimony on laptop computers during hearings. They can then use a mouse to highlight text and make annotations, from which they can later make reports.
Sellers was previously the UK distributor of T/A-Law, which it supplied to the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry. But development manager Graham Clarke said his firm had jettisoned the product because it wanted a 32-bit application and thought it would be easier to start development from scratch.
The Newgate court reporting company is now supplying the T/A-Law system.
Briefcase developer Nick Lyons said: "With a 32-bit application, the execution speed of programs is 15% faster than 16-bit, the interface is superior, you can have tabbed dialog boxes, dockable tool bars and context-sensitive help. It is easier to network the product and the next step for us is to create a multi-user system. We are also looking to make the transcript window more like a browser."
The Briefcase system also has a unique audiovisual training program on its CD-Rom installation disk, which provides an interactive video guide for lawyers learning how to use the software.
Smith Bernal business development manager Douglas McQuaid, whose firm supplies LiveNote in the UK, was unable to comment on future development plans or whether they included a 32-bit system.
LiveNote, the company that owns the software, was recently hit by the resignation of developer Mark Smith.
Of Briefcase, McQuaid said: "The heart of any of these systems is the quality of the court reporter."