New Trial Presentation Options

What’s up with all of the new trial presentation applications being released recently? Will the likes of TrialTouch, OnCue, Limine and Maestro take a bite out of the professional trial presentation market? Are they geared more toward their own (proprietary) in-house use, or toward attorneys wanting to do it on their own? A few of these have already been featured on the popular Trial Technology and Lit Support Podcast (http://www.midsouthtechs.com/generator/).

OnCue (http://oncuetech.com/) appears on the surface to be oriented toward the professional market, but with the fallback of using it in-house as a proprietary application. According to their site, OnCue was “Engineered by pros for other pros. The most powerful features will be appreciated by those using it day in and day out.” As a joint venture of Core Legal Concepts and RLM TrialGraphix, the OnCue site states, “We make software but don’t provide courtroom support–we have other companies* for that,” with the asterisk referencing the joint venture statement. With Core and RLM providing trial support services, it might seem a bit odd that they would be marketing the software they developed for their own in-house use to their competitors. But then again, inData also offers trial support services, so it may not be such a unique approach after all. In comparison, inData is more about TrialDirector sales than trial support services, while Core and RLM are more about trial services than software sales. Published pricing options range from $50 per month to $80 per month.

Limine (http://www.legistek.com/) is offered presumably with a primary market of attorneys who want to do it themselves, and secondarily, litigation support folks who are looking for a reasonably-priced trial presentation app. A partnership with equipment rental firm Aquipt fuels their Microsoft Surface touchscreen tablet program, which comes loaded with the software for trial. Microsoft Office comes as an optional upgrade. Once you’re finished with your trial, you just return the tablet. The rental fee includes access to the PC desktop version of Limine Classic, which is also limited to the duration of your trial. Litigation Support professionals can also partner directly with Legistek to “offer Limine-equipped touchscreen devices as part of your essential trial support services.” Published pricing options include a short-term rental for $599 (up to three weeks with Limine and a tablet, and up to four weeks with Limine Classic) and a PC desktop version for $499 annually.

Maestro (http://www.conductyourmedia.com/) looks to be aimed toward the litigator who is already on the current or prospective client list of Colorado-based High Impact, an illustration and interactive animation provider. Their illustrations and animation work are among the best I’ve seen, but until now, presenting it to a jury has been left to the professionals. Another touchscreen offering, “Maestro is comprised of an interactive touchscreen interface, your choice of dynamic presentation modes, intuitive gesture controls and an arsenal of user-friendly editing tools.” Rather than using a touchscreen tablet, Maestro uses a large monitor, similar to what you might see on the evening news. You can develop your own presentation, or you can “(invite) your support staff to help organize and manage your presentation behind-the-scenes - even as you’re delivering your argument.” I’m not so sure I’d recommend having someone work on your presentation over the Internet while you’re doing your Closing, but I guess that’s up to you. Pricing is not yet published on their website.

TrialTouch (https://portal.dkglobal.net/) has been around a bit longer, but I'll include it here among the newer options. Another option focused on the do-it-yourself attorney, "Trial Touch™ is your paralegal, service bureau and trial technician in one convenient, easy-to-use solution." This iPad app serves as a delivery vehicle for the graphics and animation work of DK Global, as well as for working with and presenting your other trial exhibits. According to their website, "Trial Touch includes a variety of tools giving you the ability to redact, highlight, magnify, and even stamp your documents and assign them as exhibits to witnesses. All of the features of the app are optimized for the iPad, giving you the capability to convert gigs of video, imagery, and data without the worry of playback failure or errors in loading." Published pricing ranges from $1900 for 5GB to $9995 per year for a "monthly subscription service that gives you the ability to upload all your documents and videos to the server."

Comments and questions about any of these are encouraged. Perhaps we can convince the software publishers to chime in as well, adding some insight. Additional comments may be found on the Trial Technology LinkedIn Group.