L.A. law goes high-tech with slew of new programs.

Disks replace 'suitcase-size' files of court documents

Software developers, looking for niche markets not filled by industry giants such as Microsoft Corp. and Novell Inc., are courting law firms with a new line of programs.

The new programs are designed to increase lawyers' access to records, monitor partner productivity and display evidence in the courtroom, said computer consultants.

Programs poised for global expansion in the near future include those that allow attorneys to access case data quickly in the courtroom and those that illustrate testimony on video displays.

"Now you can get a disk with the transcript of a trial or deposition on it, instead of a suitcase-size file of paper," said Vincent Thorpe, a partner in downtown Los Angeles-based law firm Thorpe & Thorpe.

Attorneys who use the PC-based software can scan court documents during a trial to make sure the testimony being given does not conflict with previous testimony, Thorpe said.

Law firms have used computers for bookkeeping and data storage since the mid-1980s, Thorpe said. But software publishers in the past two years have come to market with programs that enable attorneys to instantly access data from depositions and summaries by inputting key words or names, Thorpe said.

"The law profession has seen that computers let them work faster and better; it's no longer a question of 'do we need them,'" said Barry Bayer, editor of Law Office Technology Review, a Homewood, Ill.-based trade publication.

Ninety percent of the software that has been written for the law profession is based on a MS-DOS operating system for IBM PCs.

But Bayer said St. Paul, Minn.-based Robins Analystics has written a software program for attorneys, called "Ready For Trial," for use on Macintosh personal computers.

Ready For Trial can be used on the Apple Power Book, an extremely compact portable computer that can easily be taken into court.

"You will see a lot more of them in the future because attorneys, even if they don't want to use the laptops, can be damn sure their opponent will have one when they walk into the courtroom," said Jenifer Rubins, a marketing representative for Robins Analytics.

Stan Robins, founder and president of Robins Analytics, said "Ready for Trial," unlike most other software programs, can track witness testimony through multiple documents on the same disk. Most other programs, which primarily are written to operate on IBM PCs or PC clones, can search only one file at a time, Robins said.

During a trial, an attorney can instantly refer to depositions and other previous testimony during cross examination and repudiate a witness's testimony if he changes his story, Robins said.

Marven E. Garrett, senior litigation partner for the Los Angeles office of Allen, Matkins, Leck, Gamble & Mallory, said most law firms use two types of software.

The first type is used for bookkeeping, and is in widespread use throughout the business community.

The second type is specially tailored for use in the legal professions. One popular example, which is used by Allen Matkins, is a product called "Star," Garrett said.

Carlo A. Cuadra, president of Cuadra & Associates, a West Los Angeles-based software company, was one of the pioneers of software for lawyers.

"Ten years ago, we developed Star, a software that lets attorneys store complaints and testimony on computer, and we have kept upgrading it," Cuadra said.

Attorneys using "Star" can search complaints and testimony for key names or phrases, saving vast amounts of time for themselves, their colleagues on the case, and law clerks, Cuadra said.

Star is written to use with IBM PCs and PC clones, Cuadra said. He would not release sales figures for his privately held corporation, but claims to have sold software to large corporations, such as Jericho, N.Y.-based Getty Petroleum Corp. and Irving, Texas-based Exxon Corp.

"Discovery Video" is an attorney-oriented software program that is one of the most widely accepted by the legal profession, said local industry analysts. That program is sold by Stenograph Legal Services Inc. of San Ramon, Calif., one of the industry leaders in the courtroom computer software.

Jared Hughes, a sales representative for Stenograph Legal Services, said every law firm in the U.S. is a potential customer because "Discovery Video" provides synchronized audio, video and text of a deposition or trial.

"Discovery Video" was originally written in 1985 for the DOS-operating system of IBM personal computers and clones. Hughes said Stenograph plans to have versions of "Discovery Video" published for Macintosh computers by the end of March.

Using software like Discovery, court reporters transcribe proceedings on a stenographic device that is connected to a personal computer that uses Discovery Video. The finished tape or disk can then be replayed by inserting it into a VCR or computer.

Walter Sutton, president of Los Angeles-based Logan Pearsall Inc., has been working for 20 years on technological advancements that go beyond merely storing testimony on computers. His efforts have been directed toward advancements that provide custom software/hardware solutions for the legal profession.

Most recently, Logan Pearsall coordinated a $150,000 effort to install 18 computer-linked video screens in a courtroom of the Riverside County Superior Court so jurors could review 300,000 pages of court records, 13,000 defense exhibits and 3,600 plaintiff exhibits in one of the most complex court cases in history, said Marilyn Szewczak, vice president of client service for Logan Pearsall.

That case involves a lawsuit brought against 13 co-defendants charged with being responsible for the widespread toxic contamination at the Stringfellow dump site in Riverside County.

Some 4,000 plaintiffs, in a trial that started in early February, claim chemicals dumped at the site from 1956 to 1972 polluted the ground water supply, sickened residents and made property values plummet.

Defendants in the Stringfellow case include the State of California, Riverside County and aerospace giants Rockwell International Corp., Northrop Corp. and McDonnell Douglas Corp.