U.S. patent application number 13/864048 was filed with the patent office on 2013-09-19 for method and system for information management.
This patent application is currently assigned to NEXTPOINT, INC.. The applicant listed for this patent is S. COURTNEY GRAY, RAKESH MADHAVA, BENJAMIN R. WOLF. Invention is credited to S. COURTNEY GRAY, RAKESH MADHAVA, BENJAMIN R. WOLF.
Application Number | 20130246941 13/864048 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 48365420 |
Filed Date | 2013-09-19 |
United States Patent
Application |
20130246941 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
MADHAVA; RAKESH ; et
al. |
September 19, 2013 |
Method and System for Information Management
Abstract
A system and method is described for managing litigation
services, such as the designation of exhibits, deponents and other
information for one or more cases. The method including the steps
of receiving trial information and populating a database with the
trial information. The method next includes the step of designating
portions of the trial information for later use, followed by
receiving confirmation of acceptance of the designated portions.
Finally, the method includes the step of managing the designation
and use of the trial information.
Inventors: |
MADHAVA; RAKESH; (CHICAGO,
IL) ; GRAY; S. COURTNEY; (CHICAGO, IL) ; WOLF;
BENJAMIN R.; (MIDDLETON, WI) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
MADHAVA; RAKESH
GRAY; S. COURTNEY
WOLF; BENJAMIN R. |
CHICAGO
CHICAGO
MIDDLETON |
IL
IL
WI |
US
US
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
NEXTPOINT, INC.
Chicago
IL
|
Family ID: |
48365420 |
Appl. No.: |
13/864048 |
Filed: |
April 16, 2013 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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12552936 |
Sep 2, 2009 |
8447731 |
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13864048 |
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12059636 |
Mar 31, 2008 |
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12552936 |
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11828969 |
Jul 26, 2007 |
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12059636 |
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12059636 |
Mar 31, 2008 |
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12552936 |
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11828969 |
Jul 26, 2007 |
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12059636 |
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61093652 |
Sep 2, 2008 |
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60820363 |
Jul 26, 2006 |
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60820363 |
Jul 26, 2006 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
715/753 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06Q 50/18 20130101;
G06Q 10/10 20130101; G06F 3/0484 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
715/753 |
International
Class: |
G06F 3/0484 20060101
G06F003/0484 |
Claims
1. A system for information management comprising: at least one
processor and a computer readable medium comprising
computer-executable instructions, wherein execution of said
computer-executable instructions by said at least one processor
causes said at least one processor to execute steps comprising:
obtaining trial information comprising at least one transcript in
an original document format; converting said at least one
transcript to a standard format, wherein said converting comprises
parsing textual data; providing a graphical user interface over a
network to a user for editing said at least one transcript
uniformly based on said standard format, wherein said editing
comprises allowing said user to designate at least one portion of
said at least one transcript; accepting at least one designation
entered by said user; and transferring said at least one
designation to a recipient.
2. The system for information management of claim 1, wherein said
at least one transcript comprises a deposition transcript.
3. The system for information management of claim 1, wherein
converting said at least one transcript to said standard format
comprises analyzing lines of said at least one transcript to
differentiate non-textual characters from textual data in said
standard format.
4. The system for information management of claim 3, wherein said
non-textual characters comprise line breaks and line numbers.
5. The system for information management of claim 1, wherein said
standard format comprises continuous text parsed from multiple
lines with non-textual characters removed.
6. The system for information management of claim 5, wherein said
graphical user interface enables said user to search multiple
transcripts in said standard format.
7. The system for information management of claim 1, wherein said
steps further comprise transferring said at least one transcript in
said standard format, wherein said at least one designation is
associated with a portion of said at least one transcript in said
standard format.
8. The system for information management of claim 1, further
comprising transferring said at least one transcript in said
original document format, wherein said at least one designation is
associated with a portion of said at least one transcript in said
original document format.
9. The system for information management of claim 1, wherein said
trial information further comprises at least one video deposition
and said steps further comprise synchronizing said at least one
designation with a portion of said at least one video
deposition.
10. The system for information management of claim 1, wherein said
graphical user interface is provided via a browser.
11. The system for information management of claim 1, wherein said
recipient comprises a second user authorized to view said at least
one transcript and said at least one designation through said
graphical user interface.
12. The system for information management of claim 1, wherein said
recipient comprises a second user authorized to edit and add at
least one additional designation to said at least one designation
through said graphical user interface.
13. The system for information management of claim 1, wherein said
recipient comprises a second user, wherein said steps further
comprise providing a user interface to said second user to confirm
said at least one designation.
14. The system for information management of claim 1, wherein said
recipient comprises an opposing party.
15. The system for information management of claim 14, wherein said
steps further comprise updating a status of said at least one
designation to indicate that said at least one designation is
exchanged with said opposing party.
16. The system for information management of claim 1, wherein said
steps further comprise: receiving at least one opposing designation
from an opposing party; optionally receiving at least one opposing
transcript from said opposing party; optionally converting said at
least one opposing transcript to said standard format; and storing
said at least one opposing designation.
17. The system for information management of claim 1, wherein said
trial information further comprises at least one exhibit.
18. The system for information management of claim 17, wherein said
graphical user interface is enabled to allow said user to associate
said at least one exhibit with said at least one transcript.
19. The system for information management of claim 17, wherein said
graphical user interface is enabled to allow said user to associate
said at least one exhibit with said at least one designation.
20. The system for information management of claim 17, wherein said
at least one processor resides on a cloud computing network.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE
[0001] This application claims the priority of U.S. Provisional
Patent Application No. 61/093,652 filed on Sep. 2, 2008, which
claims the priority of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/098,317
filed on Apr. 4, 2008, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S.
patent application Ser. No. 11/828,969 filed on Jul. 26, 2007,
which claims the priority of U.S. Provisional Patent Application
No. 60/820,363 filed on Jul. 26, 2006 and this application claims
the priority of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/059,636 filed
on Mar. 31, 2008, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 11/828,969; which claims the priority of U.S.
Provisional Patent Application No. 60/820,363 filed on Jul. 26,
2006. These applications are incorporated herein by reference in
their entirety.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] This invention relates generally to a method and system for
managing information and more specifically, to tracking information
in connection with litigation support services.
[0003] One application for the current invention is providing
online litigation services, such as managing the designation of
exhibits, deponents and other information for one or more cases.
Currently, it is most common for these services to be provided by
secretaries or paralegals via spreadsheets designed to calculate
numbers and perform mathematical tasks rather than organizational
tasks.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0004] A system and method is described for managing litigation
services, such as the designation of exhibits, deponents and other
information for one or more cases.
[0005] A better understanding of the objects, advantages, features,
properties and relationships of the invention will be obtained from
the following detailed description and accompanying drawings which
set forth an illustrative embodiment and which, are indicative of
the various ways in which the principles of the invention may be
employed.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
[0006] For a better understanding of the invention, reference may
be had to the following Figures, which further describe an
embodiment of the present invention and which include drawings and
exemplary screen shots therefor:
[0007] FIG. 1 is a diagram depicting a computer network on which an
embodiment of the invention may be operated.
[0008] FIG. 2 shows an exemplary login page for use in the present
invention.
[0009] FIG. 3 shows an exemplary screen shot of a Login Problems
window for use with the first embodiment of the present
invention.
[0010] FIG. 4 shows an exemplary screen shot of a Trial Management
window for use with a first embodiment of the present
invention.
[0011] FIG. 5 shows an exemplary screen shot of an Add/Edit A Case
window for use with the first embodiment of the present
invention.
[0012] FIG. 6 shows an exemplary screen shot of a Delete A Case
window for use with the first embodiment of the present
invention.
[0013] FIG. 7 shows an exemplary screen shot of a Current
Designations window for use with the first embodiment of the
present invention.
[0014] FIG. 8 shows an exemplary screen shot of an Add Exhibits
window for use with the first embodiment of the present
invention.
[0015] FIG. 9 shows an exemplary screen shot of an Add Deposition
window for use with the first embodiment of the present
invention.
[0016] FIG. 10 shows an exemplary screen shot of an Exchange Center
window for use with the first embodiment of the present
invention.
[0017] FIG. 11 shows an exemplary screen shot of an Exhibit Number
window for use with the first embodiment of the present
invention.
[0018] FIG. 12 shows an exemplary screen shot of a Deponent Name
window for use with the first embodiment of the present
invention.
[0019] FIG. 13 shows an exemplary screen shot of a PDF Center
window for use with the first embodiment of the present
invention.
[0020] FIG. 14 shows an exemplary screen shot of an Upload/Edit
window for use with the first embodiment of the present
invention.
[0021] FIG. 15 shows an exemplary screen shot of an Upload/Edit
window for use with a second embodiment of the present
invention.
[0022] FIG. 16 shows an exemplary screen shot of a Plaintiff
Designations window for use with the first embodiment of the
present invention.
[0023] FIG. 17 shows an exemplary screen shot of an All Deponents
window for use with an embodiment of the present invention.
[0024] FIG. 18 shows an exemplary screen shot of a Deposition
window for use with an embodiment of the present invention.
[0025] FIG. 19 shows an exemplary screen shot of an Exhibit window
for use with an embodiment of the present invention.
[0026] FIG. 20 shows a private network.
[0027] FIG. 21 shows a private network used in connection with
multiple cloud computing architectures.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0028] Turning now to the Figures, wherein like reference numerals
refer to like elements, there is illustrated a system and method
for managing trial information 60 and generating respective
standardized reports 80 that can be used for efficiently tracking
the status of the trial information 60. Although not required, the
system and the method will be described in the general context of a
computer network 20, as is well know in the industry, and computer
executable instructions being executed by general purpose computing
devices within the computer network 20. In this regard, the general
purpose computing devices may comprise one or more remote computers
22a, and one or more server computers 22b, hosting to a software
application 30. The server computer 22b can also include one or
more databases 24 for storing trial information 60. Trial
information 60 can include exhibits, deponent names, deponent
transcripts, case names or any other information that could be
introduced at trial.
[0029] To allow each of the remote computers 22a to access and
utilize the information management system 10 without storing copies
of the software application 30 on each of those computers 22a, the
software application 30 may reside on the server computer 22b.
Further, it is preferable that users access the software
application 30 via an internet browser 40, which acts as an
interface between the software application 30 and the operating
system for the remote computer 22a. Although the operating system
for the server computer 22b is preferably Windows.RTM. based, it
should be understood that the server computer 22b could employ any
one of the currently existing operating systems, such as
LINUX.RTM., MAC OS.RTM., Mozilla.RTM., etc. In addition, it should
be appreciated by those with skill in the art that other
applications besides the browser may also be utilized to act as an
interface between the software application 30 and the remote
computers 22a.
[0030] For editing, populating and maintaining the databases 24,
the browser 40 includes a graphical user interface 50. As shown in
FIG. 2, the graphical user interface 50 is further comprised of
various menu bars, drop-down menus, buttons and display windows. A
detailed description of the graphical user interface 50, the menu
bars, drop-down menus, exemplary buttons and display windows, along
with a brief description of the functionality associated with those
menus, buttons and windows, is described below and in the
accompanying Figures.
[0031] As will be appreciated by those of skill in the art, the
computers 22a, 22b need not be limited to personal computers, but
may include hand-held devices, multiprocessor systems,
microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics,
minicomputers, mainframe computers, personal digital assistants,
cellular telephones or the like depending upon their intended end
use within the system. For performing the procedures described
hereinafter, the computer executable instructions may be written as
routines, programs, objects, components, and/or data structures
that perform particular tasks. Within the computer network 20, the
computer executable instructions may reside on a single computer
22a, or server computer 22b, or the tasks performed by the computer
executable instructions may be distributed among a plurality of the
computers 22a, 22b. Therefore, while described in the context of a
computer network, it should also be understood that the present
invention may be embodied in a stand-alone, general purpose
computing device that need not be connected to a network.
[0032] To efficiently provide users with access to the software
application 30, the server computers 22b and the underlying
framework for the computer network 20 may be provided by the
service company itself or by outsourcing the hosting of the
software application 30 to an application service provider ("ASP").
ASP's are companies that provide server computers that store and
run a software application for a third party entity, which is
accessible to the third party entity's users via the Internet or
similar means. Therefore, the server computer for operating the
software application may be hosted on a computer that is owned and
maintained by another party and users may then access and use
software applications via the host computer without storing the
software application on the remote computers. It should be
understood, however, that ASP models are well-known in the industry
and should not be viewed as a limitation with respect to the type
of system architectures that are capable of providing a computer
network 20 that can properly operate the software application
discussed herein.
[0033] To perform the particular tasks in accordance with the
computer executable instructions, the computers 22a, 22b may
include, as needed, a video adapter, a processing unit, a system,
memory, an a system bus that couples the system memory to the
processing unit. The video adapter allows the computers 22a, 22b to
support a display, such as a cathode ray tube ("CRT"), a liquid
crystal display ("LCD"), a flat screen monitor, a touch screen
monitor or similar means for displaying textual and graphical data
to a user. The display allows a user to view information, such as,
code, file directories, error logs, execution logs and graphical
user interface tools.
[0034] The computers 22a, 22b may further include read only memory
(ROM), a hard disk drive for reading and writing to a hard disk, a
magnetic disk drive for reading from and writing to a magnetic
disk, and/or an optical disk drive for reading from and writing to
a removable optical disk or any other suitable data storage device.
The hard disk drive, magnetic disk drive, and optical disk drive
may be connected to the system bus by a hard disk drive disk
interface, a magnetic disk drive interface, or an optical disk
drive interface, respectively, or other suitable data interface.
The drives and their associated computer-readable media provide a
means of non-volatile storage for the computer executable
instructions and any other data structures, program modules,
databases, arrays, etc. utilized during the operation of the
computers 22a, 22b.
[0035] To connect the computers 22a, 22b within the computer
network 20, the computers 22a, 22b may include a network interface
or adapter. When used in a wide area network, such as the Internet
the computers 22a, 22b typically include a network interface, such
as a router/modem or similar device. The modem, which may be
internal or external, is connected to the system bus for the
computer via a serial port interface or other communication port.
It will be appreciated that the described network connections are
exemplary and that other means of establishing a communications
link between the computers 22a, 22b may be used. For example, the
system may also include a wireless router/modem that receives and
transmits information via a wireless communications medium, such as
a cellular communications network, a satellite communications
network, or another similar type of wireless network. It should
also be appreciated that the network interface will be capable of
employing TCP/IP, FTP, SFTP, Telnet SSH, HTTP, SHTTP, RSH, REXEC,
etc. and other network connectivity protocols.
[0036] As mentioned above, in one embodiment, the software
application 30 and databases 24 reside on the server computer 22b
and are managed by the provider of the software application 30 or
by a third-party. Those with skill in the art will understand,
however, that the software application 30 and databases 24 may
reside on the remote computer 22a and may be managed and maintained
by a user. The software application 30 and databases 24 may also
reside on different computers. The graphical user interface 50 may
load web pages via HTTP or HTTPS or any other suitable format and
displays those web pages on the browser 40.
[0037] As seen below, system 30 may be employed to store and
process electronically stored litigation data 6010, which may
include documents, emails, deposition transcripts, photographs, or
other similar types of evidence that may be used during the
litigation of a case. To alleviate the processing resources
necessary to store and process the constantly and exponentially
increasing amount of electronically stored litigation data 6010
being generated in the field of litigation, the system may utilize
additional computational resources that are available via a cloud
computing network 6000. The term "cloud computing" refers to the
use of computational resources that are available remotely over a
public network, such as the internet, and that are generally
provided at a low cost and on an hourly basis. Any virtual or
physical computer that is in electronic communication with such a
public network could potentially be available as a computational
resource. To provide computational resources via the cloud network
on a secure basis, computers that access the cloud network may
employ standard security encryption protocols such as SSL and PGP,
which are well known in the industry.
[0038] In this embodiment, the software application 30 and
databases 24 may reside on a computer that is connected to a cloud
computing network 6000 or the software application 30 and databases
24 may reside on a computer that forms part of cloud computing
network 6000. The cloud computing network 6000 may also be used to
process electronically stored litigation data 6010 that may be
required for a trial, litigation, eDiscovery or other evidence
management applications as seen below. In some cases,
electronically stored litigation data 6010 associated with
discovery may comprise several million pages of documents, and can
be as large as multiple terabytes of information. The ability to
use low-cost alternatives to traditional computing needs,
therefore, may have a significant impact on reducing the cost and
resources necessary to conduct discovery and to conform to federal,
state, and international legal requirements for maintaining and
producing information and documents.
[0039] As described in detail below, electronically stored
litigation data 6010 may be converted and/or processed in a variety
of different manners. For example, the system may perform full-text
and meta-data extraction, physical alteration of electronically
stored litigation data 6010 (such as stamping or numbering),
indexing of data to create searchable indexes, and maintain
corresponding relational database structures. This processing is
extremely demanding of computational resources such as computer
memory, processing, bandwidth, and storage. Because this processing
is a precursor to other eDiscovery and evidence management tasks,
it is critical that it be performed as quickly as possible.
However, due to the time constraints that are usually involved, the
use of traditional computing resources is cost prohibitive in some
instances.
[0040] Those with skill in the art will recognize that different
forms of distributed processing exist and that other concepts
related to distributed processing could also be applied to the
present system. For example, FIG. 20 depicts a private network
6050, which may include a plurality of web applications 6051, a
plurality of primary database storage discs 6052 and a plurality of
computers 6053, which are linked together via an intranet or
similar network. In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 20, the
processing and storage of the various electronically stored
litigation data 6010 all takes place on site, and is done via
computers 6053 that are located on site and connected to the
private network. Therefore, the only way to increase processing
speed or storage space is to increase the number of physical
computers 6053 that are connected to the private network. This is
economically inefficient since the system provider must maintain a
large number of computers that are not utilized on a regular basis.
The use of a cloud computing network may help to alleviate the
extreme demands placed on traditional computational resources, and
dramatically decrease the cost associated with processing
electronically stored litigation data 6010 as described above.
[0041] In the embodiment depicted, for example, in FIG. 21, such
economic and physical restrictions are reduced greatly. FIG. 21,
depicts a variation of cloud computing architecture 6000, which may
comprise private network, or web host, 6150. Private network 6150
may comprise a plurality of web applications 6151, a plurality of
primary data base storage discs 6152, and a computer or server
6153.
[0042] As seen, cloud computing architecture 6000 leverages
expandable virtual computing cloud 6200 to rapidly provision
computational resources as needed, and release the resources when
complete. Specifically, cloud computing architecture 6000 creates a
plurality of virtual computers 6253 to process electronically
stored litigation data 6010 as needed. This makes it possible to
process extremely large amounts of electronically stored litigation
data 6010 without the constant overhead of a private network
architecture comprising several private computers. By way of
example, and in no way limiting, three hypothetical scenarios are
stated below to demonstrate the use of cloud computing architecture
6000:
[0043] Scenario #1: As stated above, each virtual computer 6253 is
comprised of computational resources that are connected to a public
network, such as the internet, and are available. In this first
scenario, a first service provider owns a first and a second
physical server, each of which is similar to servers 6053 described
above. The first and the second physical server are each being used
by the service provider, but each is only being used at 60%
capacity, leaving 40% of their respective capacities unused.
Additionally, each physical server is connected to a public
network. A second service provider, who employs a cloud computing
architecture similar to cloud computing architecture 6000, requires
60% of the capacity of a server similar to the first service
provider's two physical servers, but the second service provider
only needs those resources for an hour. Cloud computing
architecture 6000 may leverage the unused 40% capacity of the first
physical server, and combine it with 1/2 of the unused 40% capacity
of the second physical server (or 20% of the total capacity) to
create a virtual computer 6253 that is using the same 60% of the
physical servers. In the alternative, cloud computing architecture
6000 may leverage and combine 3/4 of the unused 40% capacity of
each physical server (or 30% of the total capacity apiece) to
provide a virtual computer 6253 that is using the same 60% of the
physical servers.
[0044] Scenario #2: Cloud computing architecture 6000 may provision
a plurality of virtual computers 6253 in expandable virtual
computing cloud 6200 to process a first large number of documents
as described in detail below. Depending on the type of processing
required, the processing may be completed in about an hour. When
completed, cloud computing architecture 6000 releases virtual
computers 6253 and allows the computational resources to perform
other tasks.
[0045] However, if a second customer requires a second large number
of documents to be processed while the first large number of
documents is still being processed, cloud computing architecture
6000 may provision an additional plurality of virtual computers
6253. Such additional provision will take a brief amount of time to
be manually initialized. In a second embodiment, such
initialization may be actuated automatically, requiring no manual
input. Regardless, in short amount of time, cloud computing
architecture 6000 may begin to process the second large number of
documents. To replicate this performance on a private network, such
as network 6050 depicted in FIG. 20, a service provider would be
required to purchase not only the initial plurality of servers, but
would either be required to purchase the additional plurality of
servers, or have the additional plurality of servers idling on
site. Either scenario introduces an extraordinary cost to the
service provider, which must be passed along to the customer.
[0046] Scenario #3: A user requests, through web application 6151,
that a large number of documents, which had previously been entered
into the system, be Bates stamped. The manner in which the
documents are uploaded or downloaded is well known, and may include
uploading to a web server through a browser by way of SSL.
Regardless of how the documents are uploaded, cloud computing
architecture 6000 would provision the necessary number of virtual
computers 6253. In order to provision the necessary number of
virtual computers 6253, cloud computing architecture 6000 may
proceed through the following steps:
1. The host computer sends out a request to a cloud computing
network for additional computing resources. The additional
computing resources are defined as either physical servers or
virtual servers; each on having dedicated computational resources
such as hard disk, memory, processor abilities, etc. 2. Cloud
computing network 6000 replies and indicates the amount of
available resources. Cloud computing network 6000 responds with the
status of each virtual server. Once available, cloud computing
network 6000 provides an IP address for each virtual server. Cloud
computing network 6000 also provides an API for the service
provider, in order to list the currently available servers, and
each server's status and IP address. 3. The cloud computing network
provides the necessary network protocols for allowing the secure
exchange of data between the host computer and the cloud computing
network. 4. Each virtual server communicates to the service
provider's primary, physical servers by way of a secure web
services API. 5. The host computer provides processing instructions
to the cloud computing network. This may be done through a web
services API, such as extensible markup language (XML) or other
such language. 6. The cloud computing network receives the data and
directs it to a plurality of virtual computers. In order to
accomplish this, the host computer breaks down the electronically
stored litigation data 6010 into its smallest block of information
that may be processed at one time, which is determined by the type
of processing required, then commands each virtual server to
process the next available block of information. By way of example,
if 1,000,000 pages of documents are to be Bates stamped, the
smallest block of information is one page. In this manner, the host
computer will tell each virtual computer to take the next available
page and Bates stamp it. On a different occasion, the smallest
block of information that may be processed is by document, rather
than by page. In this instance, the host computer will tell each
virtual server to process the next available document. 7. Once
virtual computers 6253 process the large number of documents, they
will store the original documents, along with the newly processed
documents, in storage location 6260. As stated below, storage
location 6260 may comprise a plurality of physical servers, or may
comprise a plurality of virtual servers. Virtual computers 6253
will then indicate on primary database discs 6152 where the newly
processed documents are stored. The newly processed documents may
be stored in the same file format as the original documents as well
as a format compatible with the service provider's web interface.
8. The host computer makes the modified data available to the
user.
[0047] To process the electronically stored litigation data 6010,
each virtual computer 6253 would publish its application program
interface (API) for securely receiving authenticated instructions
via the internet, and request the storage location of the documents
from primary database 6152. The virtual computers 6253 would then
retrieve the documents from storage location 6260. In the depicted
embodiment, storage location 6260 comprises a plurality of virtual
servers 6262, however, it will be appreciated by those in the art
that storage location 6260 may comprise physical servers or a
combination of physical servers and virtual servers.
[0048] It will be appreciated by those in the art that, due to the
space limitations inherent under systems similar to those depicted
in FIG. 20, service providers only process electronically stored
litigation data 6010 when requested, and only do the processing
that is required at the time. By way of example, a service provider
may store a large number of documents for a customer and the
customer may ask the service provide to make the documents keyword
searchable by using Optical Character Recognition ("OCR") software
to convert the documents into a searchable format. When a customer
requests OCR conversion, the service provider may convert the large
number of documents and store both the original documents and the
OCR documents in its computers 6053. The process of converting a
large number of documents to a searchable format requires
significant processing bandwidth and a great deal of storage space
to store both the original version of the documents and the OCR
version of the documents. This type of request in addition to the
outstanding requests for other customers may create a large spike
in the demand for the service provider's computational resources,
which requires more computers to be kept on to hand by the service
provider or which increases the time required to complete the job
request. A large spike in the demand for computational resources
may also occur in connection with request to bates stamp documents
or to change the document format of documents.
[0049] Under the embodiment depicted in FIG. 21, the service
provider may provision the requisite number of virtual computers to
process and store the documents on a real-time basis or within a
predetermined amount of time. The amount of turnaround time
necessary to process the documents is customizable and may be
selected by the customer or the service provider.
[0050] For populating the databases 24, data may be loaded directly
from application end users or programmatically through command line
tools or scripting. While the software application 30 may be
programmed in any software language capable of producing the
desired functionality, it is envisioned that the software
application 30 will be programmed using Ruby on Rails (commonly
referred to as "RoR," or simply "Rails").
[0051] To edit, populate and maintain the databases 24, the
graphical user interface 50 may allow the user to perform standard
text editing functions, including, mouse placement of the cursor,
click-and-drag text selection and standard Windows.RTM. key
combinations for cutting, copying and pasting data. In addition,
the graphical user interface 50 may allow users to access, copy,
save, export or send data or files by using standard Windows.RTM.
file transfer functions. It should be understood that these editing
and file transfer functions may also be accomplished within other
operating system environment such as LINUX.RTM., MAC OS.RTM.,
Mozilla.RTM., etc.
[0052] For maintaining the security associated with the software
application 30 and databases 24, a unique login window 100 may be
maintained for each company/user. The login window 100 may also be
used to control the access privileges for various levels of users.
As shown in FIG. 2, each login window 100 may also require a user
name and password. For security purposes, the user names and
passwords may be kept separately for each company that is accessing
the software application 30. To gain access to the software
application 30, the user must enter a proper user name in the user
name field 206 and password in the password field 208 and press the
submit button 204. If the user has forgotten the user name 206, the
user may click on the Forgot User Name link 200 for assistance. If
the user has forgotten the password 208, the user may click on the
Forgot Password link 202.
A. Forgotten User Name or Password
[0053] To enable a user to gain access to software application 30
if the user has forgotten the User Name or Password, a Login
Problems window 500 may be provided. To access the Login Problems
window 500, either the Forgot User Name link 200 or the Forgot
Password link 202 may be selected. FIG. 3 depicts Login Problems
window 500. As shown, Login Problems window 500 may include email
space 502 and username space 504. In the exemplary embodiment, the
user will have submitted a valid email address prior to receiving
permission to use software application 30. In this way, if a user
has forgotten the user name 206, the user may enter the user's
email address in email space 502 and press submit button 506.
Software application 30 will then send an email to the user's email
address that includes the user name 206.
[0054] If the user has forgotten the password 208, the user may
enter the user name 206 in username space 504 and press submit
button 506. Software application 30 will then search the database
for the username, and send an email that includes the password 208
to the email address that is associated with the user name 206. To
aid a user who has forgotten both the user name 206 and the
password 208, an information panel 508 may also be provided in
Login Problems window 500. The information panel 508 may include
contact information for a user support office or a link to
additional information that could assist the user with the login
procedure.
[0055] It should be appreciated that different login procedures may
be employed, which are well know in the industry, on an as-needed
basis, including login procedures that employ biometrics, such as
fingerprints, retinal scans, etc.
II. All Active Cases/Trial Management (Home Page)
[0056] While the system 10 can be used for any application in which
it would be desirable to manage information 60, the following
description discusses the system 10 in the context of providing
litigation support services. As shown in FIG. 4, the system 10 may
be used to manage more than one case 210 by allowing the user to
access a Trial Management window 110. The Trial Management window
110 may be accessed by entering a valid user name 206 and password
208 on the Login window 100 and selecting the Submit link 204 as
described above. The cases 210 that are being managed by the system
10 are listed on the Trial Management window 110 in the Active
Cases column 212.
[0057] As seen in FIG. 4, for each of the cases 210 being managed
by the system 10, various information is also shown. For example, a
Date Case Last Modified column 218 may be provided that includes
information about when a specific case 210 was last modified. A
Case ID# column 222 may also be provided that includes a case
number 220 for each of the listed cases 210. To edit cases 210,
each case 210 may include a corresponding Edit button 224. The Edit
buttons 224 are shown in FIG. 4 under the Case Settings column
226.
A. Adding a Case to the Trial Management Window
[0058] To aid the user in adding a case 210 to the system 10, an
Add/Edit A Case window 600 may be provided, which can be accessed
by selecting add case link 214 provided in Trial Management window
110. The Add/Edit A Case window 600 may include multiple areas to
enter various data or information pertinent to a specific case 210.
In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 5, a user can enter a Case Name
or Case Caption in case name area 602. A user may also enter a
description of the party's name in represented area 604, and can
identify whether the user is the plaintiff or defendant in
plaintiff/defense area 606. As some courts require different
colored cover sheets to differentiate which party is submitting the
documents, a plaintiff color area 608 and defendant color area 610
may also be provided in Add/Edit A Case window 600. The Add/Edit A
Case window 600 may also include email area 612 to enter the
various emails of the attorneys associated with case 210. Once all
of the additions are entered, and the user is satisfied with the
completeness and veracity of the information, the user may add the
case 210 to information management system 10 by clicking on Submit
button 616. To return to the Trial Management window 110 without
submitting any of the additions, an All Active Cases link 614 may
be selected on the Add/Edit A Case window 600. Clicking on the All
Active Cases link 614 will return the user to the Trial Management
window 110.
B. Deleting a Case from the Trial Management Window
[0059] To aid a user in deleting a specific case 210 from the
system 10, a Delete A Case window 700 may be provided, which can be
accessed by selecting delete case link 216 provided in Trial
Management window 110. The Delete A Case window 700 may include
various information used to identify a specific case 210. In the
embodiment depicted in FIG. 6, Delete A Case window 700 includes a
list of active cases 210. Each active case 210 is a link that will
direct the user to the respective trial information 60 as described
below. Each case 210 has corresponding identification information
704, such as a last modified identifier 710 and Case ID 712. Each
case 210 also has a corresponding delete box 702. To delete a
particular case 210 from information management system 10, a user
may check the delete box 702 that corresponds with the case 210,
and press the Submit button 706. If a user wishes to return to the
Trial Management window 110 without submitting any deletions, the
All Active Cases link 708 may be selected. Clicking on the All
Active Cases link 708 will return the user to the Trial Management
window 110.
III. Managing/Editing Specific Cases
[0060] To access a specific case 210, the user may click on the
case link 210 provided, for example, in the Trial Management window
110. As shown in FIG. 7, clicking on a case link 210 allows the
user to access various trial information 60, such as exhibits 60a
and deponents 60b and any other evidentiary material, court
filings, transcripts or materials generated in the preparation for
and participation in a trial. Exhibits 60a may include items such
as court dockets, key dates, contact information and service lists,
court information, or any other information needed to participate
in a trial as would be known to a person familiar in the art.
Deponents 60b may include fact witnesses, expert witnesses, third
party witnesses, etc. Moreover, once the user accesses a specific
case 210, the browser 40 displays various information, links and
columns, including the Case Name 242, a Navigation bar 230 and
links for various functions, such as Expand All link 244, Collapse
All link 246, Send To Excel link 248, Send To Printer link 250 and
Send To PDF link 252. It will be appreciated by those in the art
that software application 30 is designed to allow for the delivery
of data in any application that is necessary or desirable for the
user. As such, navigation bar 230 may comprise any number of
additional "send to" links not specifically detailed above, such as
a Send to Email link, Send to Lotus 1-2-3 link, etc. In the
depicted embodiment, selecting Expand All link 244 will reveal all
data currently contained within the relevant fields. Selecting
Collapse All link 246 simplifies the interface by hiding all data
contained within the relevant fields except the top level of data.
Selecting Send to Excel link 248 will export the data to a
Microsoft.RTM. Excel spreadsheet. Selecting Send to Printer link
250 will send the data to the printer specified by the user's
operating system. Selecting Send to PDF link 252 will create a pdf
file comprised of the data. The .pdf file may display the data in a
format that is easily read and/or understood by the user (such as
graphs, tables, paragraphs or other report-like displays).
[0061] For allowing the user to access different functions of the
system 10, the Navigation bar 230 includes links to windows for All
Active Cases 232, Current Designations 234, Exchange Center 236,
PDF Center 238 and Plaintiff Designations 240, which will be
discussed in a more detail below.
A. Current Designation
[0062] FIG. 7 depicts a Current Designations window 234, which can
be activated by selecting a Current Designations link 234a. The
status for each of the exhibits 60a and deponents 60b shown in
activity window 60X may also be shown. For example, in FIG. 7 the
status for each of the exhibits 60a and deponents 60b may be either
"Exchanged" or "Not Exchanged." In addition, specific deposition
excerpts 300 may be identified for one or more of the deponents 60b
that are listed and selected by the user. The Current Designations
window 234 may also include links for various functions, such as
Expand All link 244, Collapse All link 246, Send To Excel link 248,
Send To Printer link 250 and Send To PDF link 252, each of which is
described above.
[0063] 1. Adding an Exhibit
[0064] To add an exhibit 60a to an existing case 210, an Add
Exhibits window 800 may be provided, which can be accessed by
selecting an Exhibits (add) link 260a provided in the Current
Designations window 234, and is shown in FIG. 7. The Add Exhibits
window 800 may include various information used to identify a
specific exhibit that the user wishes to add to the system 10. In
the embodiment depicted in FIG. 8, the Add Exhibits window 800
includes prefix space 802 and number space 804. By filling out
prefix space 802, exhibit 60a will be categorized with other
similar types of exhibits. By filling out number space 804, exhibit
60a will be listed in numerical order within its category. Add
Exhibits 800 window may also include status information 806, which
depicts the exchange status of the particular exhibit 60a. Add
Exhibits 800 window may also comprise history box 808, which
includes information such as when and by whom exhibit 60a was added
to information management system 10. As users key in or modify
data, the date and time of these modifications will be associated
with the particular record. To access the record of these changes,
history box 80 also comprises activity history link 812, which
allows users to view the past activity that has been logged by
application 30. Finally, the Add Exhibits window 800 comprises
notes space 814, which allows a user to add any additional
information that may be pertinent to the exhibit 60a. Once all of
the desired information is entered by the user, he or she may save
the information on system 10 by clicking the Save button 816. If
the user wishes to send the information to the Exchange Center
window 236b (described below), he or she may click on Send to
Exchange Center box 818 prior to clicking the Save button 816.
[0065] 2. Adding a Deposition
[0066] To add a deposition 60b to an existing case 210, an Add
Deposition window 900 may be provided, which can be accessed by
selecting a Deponents (add) link 260b provided in the Current
Designations window 234. The Add Deposition window 900 may include
various information used to identify a specific deposition that the
user wishes to add to information management system 10. In the
embodiment depicted in FIG. 9, the Add Deposition window 900
includes a first name space 902, middle initial space 904 and last
name space 906. These spaces 902, 904 and 906 allow the user to
input the name of the deponent, and better identify a particular
deposition 60b. The Add Deposition window 900 may also include
volume number box 908, which provides the volume number associated
with a particular deposition transcript, as well as date box 910,
which allows the user to input the date on which the deposition was
taken. The Add Deposition window 900 may also include status
information 912, which depicts the exchange status of the
particular deposition 60b. The Add Deposition window 900 may also
comprise history box 914, which includes information such as when
and by whom deposition 60b was added to information management
system 10. History box 914 may also comprise activity history link
920, which, like history link 812, allows users to view the past
activity that has been logged by to application 30. Finally, the
Add Deponents window 900 comprises notes space 916, which allows a
user to add any additional information that may be pertinent to the
deposition 60b. Once all of the desired information is entered by
the user, he or she may save the information on the system 10 by
clicking on Save button 918.
[0067] 3. Exhibit and Deponent Records
[0068] As shown in FIGS. 8 and 11, each of the listed exhibits 60a
or deponents 60b may also include an exhibit number 310 or a
deponent name 312. Moreover, the exhibit number 310 and deponent
name 312 may also serve as links to additional information. For
example, FIGS. 12 and 13 show examples of the detailed information
that may be associated with a particular link to an exhibit 60a or
deponent 60b, respectively.
[0069] More specifically, FIG. 11 depicts an Exhibit Number window
320 associated with a specific exhibit record 322. The Exhibit
Number window 320 may be accessed by selecting the exhibit number
310 link. The Exhibit Number window 320 contains an exhibit record
322 for a specific exhibit 60a and may include information, such as
the exhibit number, the status of the exhibit, i.e., "Exchanged" or
"Not Exchanged", when and by whom the record was last edited, and
notes by the user. For allowing the user to track past activity for
a particular exhibit 60a, the Exhibit Number window 320 may also
include a See Activity History 328 link. To save the recent changes
to the Exhibit Number window 320 associated with a particular
exhibit 60a, the Exhibit Number window 320 may include a Save link
324. For allowing the user to designate where the information for a
particular exhibit 60a is saved or sent, the user may also select a
Destination box 326. The Destination box 326 may cause the exhibit
record 322 to be sent to the Exchange Center 236 or other
destinations that may be defined by the system 10.
[0070] FIG. 12 depicts a Deponent Name window 330. The Deponent
Name window 330 may be accessed by selecting the Deponent Name link
312, as shown in FIG. 7. The Deponent Name window 330 contains
information related to a deponent record 332 for a specific
deponent 60b and may include information, such as the deponent
name, the volume corresponding to the deposition transcript that is
being referenced and specific references to deposition excerpts
from the respective deposition transcript. For designating specific
deposition excerpts 344 of deposition transcripts, a Partial box
238 may be included. If the Partial box 338 is checked, a box opens
and the last several words of the deposition excerpt 344 that is
being designated may be included therein. To delete a deposition
excerpt 344 that has been previously designated, a Delete box 342
may be included. If the user checks the Delete box 342, the
deposition excerpt 344 associated with that box will be deleted. To
save the recent changes to the Deponent Name window 330 associated
with a particular deponent 60b, the Deponent Name window 330 may
include a Save link 334. For allowing the user to designate where
the information for a particular deponent 60b is saved or sent, the
user may also select a destination box 336. The destination box may
cause the deponent record 332 to be sent to the Exchange Center 236
or other destinations that may be defined by the system 10.
B. Exchange Center
[0071] To track the exchange of exhibits 60a and deponents 60b, an
Exchange Center window 236b may be provided. To access the Exchange
Center window 236b, the Exchange Center link 236a may be selected.
FIG. 10 depicts the Exchange Center window 236b. As shown in FIG.
10, the Exchange Center window 236b also includes sections 62 that
list information related to exhibits 60a, deponents 60b or other
forms of trial information 60. The section 62 that relates to
exhibits 60a lists them by exhibit number and the status of the
exhibits 60a, i.e., "Exchanged" or "Not Exchanged." In addition,
various other information that may be pertinent to the relevant
exhibit 60a may also be processed in the Exchange Center window
236b. For example, specific deposition excerpts 300 may be
identified for one or more of the deponents 60b that are listed and
selected by the user. The section 62 that relates to deponents 60b
lists them by name and may also include the status of the deponents
60b, i.e., "Exchanged" or "Not Exchanged." The deponents 60b that
are listed may also be links that when selected, display the
deposition excerpts 344 that are being designated for use at
trial.
[0072] As will be apparent to those in the art, exchange center is
an area where designations that are intended to be exchanged may be
staged prior to their transfer to the opposing party. The exchange
center may also integrate into an exchange center for opposing
counsel, should both firms be using application 30. This allows the
user to complete its "current designations", send the documents to
the "exchange center" where the user can confirm that the
designations are correct. Once confirmed, the user can then
transfer the documents to the opposing party. On the inverse, if
the user receives designations from the opposing party, the user
may approve the incoming designations in the exchange
center--essentially signing off on their receipt--and then the user
may populate the users version of application 30.
[0073] The Exchange Center 236 window may also include links for
various functions, such as Expand All link 244, Collapse All link
246, Send To Excel link 248, Send To Printer link 250 and Send To
PDF link 252.
C. PDF Center
[0074] To assist in the exchange of exhibits 60a and deponents 60b,
a PDF Center window 238 may be provided, which may be accessed by
selecting the PDF Center link 238a. FIG. 13 depicts the PDF Center
window 238. As shown in FIG. 13, the PDF Center window 238 also
includes status panel sections 62 that list information related to
exhibits 60a and deponents 60b. The status panel sections 62 may
include information about the volume in which a particular deponent
60b is located and whether the deponent 60b is ASCII loaded. It
will be appreciated by those in the art that there are other
transcript delivery formats that may be proprietary to court
reporters. Some of these are already "synched" with video time
codes. For example, the transcript file does not have to be an
ASCII file, it may also be a word file, html page or a number of
other formats that are capable of being used with application
30.
[0075] For storing deposition transcripts and editing the excerpts
of those transcripts that may be designated for use at trial, the
status panel sections 62 may also include an Upload/Edit link 250.
Selecting Upload/Edit link 250, for example, may open a separate
window, dialogue box or other mechanism by which the user would
select the correct file on the user's hard drive, network location,
or other storage location where the transcript exists. This window,
dialogue box or other mechanism may then allow the user to edit the
excerpt, and store the newly edited excerpt. The PDF Center window
238 may also include a link for generating PDF copies of the
designated excerpts, which may be stored, exported for use by
another system, e-mailed or printed by the user. It should also be
understood by those with skill in the art that other functions may
also be included in the PDF Center window 238 or that other data
formats may be employed thereby requiring a different kind of
document to be generated, such as MS Word files (*.doc),
WordPerfect files (*.wpd), XML or HTML files, or any word or text
processing format. The PDF Center window 238 may also include links
for various functions, such as Expand All 244, Collapse All 246,
Send To Excel 248, Send To Printer 250 and Send To PDF 252, as
described above.
[0076] As mentioned above, to store or edit deposition transcripts,
the Upload/Edit link 250 may be selected. FIG. 14 depicts the
Upload/Edit window 350. As shown in FIG. 14, the Upload/Edit window
350 may include an Upload File link 352, an Insert Page Break link
354 and links to various tools, such as Tool 1 356, Tool 2 358,
Tool 3 360, Tool 4 362 and Save 364. Selecting the Upload File link
353 causes the transcript for a particular deponent to be uploaded
and stored. As will be appreciated by those in the art, the
uploaded transcript can be stored locally, on external storage
devices or media, on remote third-party servers or, if available,
on court-reporting servers. The uploaded transcript may be stored
in any format compatible with or readable by application 30. The
Insert Page Break link 354 allows the user to format the transcript
as loaded into application 30 such that the page breaks are
consistent with the official transcript. Tool 2 link 358 may be
provided to allow the user to make modifications to the underlying
transcript file. Tool 3 link 360 may be provided to allow the user
to change the line numbers within the transcript. Tool 4 link 362
may be provided to allow the user to change other formatting
options, such as indentations, as necessary. It will be appreciated
that the Tool 1, 2, 3 and 4 links can be modified by the user to
accomplish most any task, and the above description is illustrative
only. Moreover, it will further be appreciated that these tasks may
be completed by software application 30 automatically, without
input from the user. To save the edited version of a deposition
transcript, the user may select the Save link 364. If the Save link
364 is selected, the edited version of the deposition transcript
will be stored either locally or at a remote server as described
above. It should be understood that Upload/Edit window 350 may also
include other links to various functions that may be required to
store and edit the deposition transcripts for later use or
designation by the user.
[0077] It will be appreciated by those in the art that deposition
transcripts are originally stored as various types of file formats.
Even if the transcripts are in the same type of file format, they
may be arranged in a different layout. The file type, and the
organization of the document, may be determined, for example, by
the governing court, or the company that provided the reporting
service. By way of example and as stated above, the deposition
transcript of a first witness may be stored as an ASCII file, while
the deposition transcript of a second witness may be stored as a
.doc file, or a .txt file.
[0078] As a second example, the deposition of a first witness may
be stored as an ASCII file, while the deposition transcript of a
second witness is also be stored as an ASCII file. However, the
organization of the two transcripts may be completely different.
For example, the first page of the first transcript may include the
name of the court, the caption of the relevant case and the person
being deposed, while the first page of the second transcript may
include the name of the court, the name of the relevant circuit,
the presiding judge, the parties, the file number of the case and
the date of the deposition. More likely than not, any information
that is identical between these two transcripts will not be located
at the same place on the front page. Additionally, the two
transcripts may differ in whether the lines on the page are
numbered, the number of lines per page, whether the pages are
numbered, etc.
[0079] In order accommodate the multiple types of files and layouts
in which transcripts may be stored, and to make electronic
searching and display of the transcripts more efficient, the
present invention includes parser 5000. Generally, a user uploads a
deposition transcript into system 30, regardless of the file type
or layout of the document in which the transcript is stored. Parser
5000 then parses the transcript and searches for the location of
various identifying or descriptive metadata contained within the
transcript. Once the type and location of this metadata is
determined, parser 5000 stores the information in a relational
database 5010. Using this stored information, system 30 can easily
search multiple transcripts, regardless of the type of file format
or layout it was originally stored in, for various information. By
way of example, if 30 deposition transcripts have been uploaded to
system 30, each transcript comprising the deposition of a different
person, system 30 can use the information stored in relational
database 5010 to search for each use of a specific phrase that is
important to the case. Additionally, system 30 can use the
information stored in relational database 5010 to manipulate the
uploaded transcripts according to parameters provided by the user.
By way of example, system 30 can display the transcript either in
its native layout or in a layout that is uniform for all uploaded
transcripts. System 30 could also display limited segments of the
transcript, or any other display that is required by the user.
[0080] To accomplish this uniform parsing, the user first uploads a
deposition transcript. It will be appreciated by those in the art
that multiple transcripts may be uploaded simultaneously. Because
parser 5000 requires no basic information about any deposition
transcript to be manually inputted into system 30, uploading
multiple transcripts simultaneously greatly increases the
efficiency of both the user and system 30.
[0081] Once uploaded, the transcript is analyzed by parser 5000,
which extracts and stores various metadata for use in displaying,
searching and further parsing of the transcript later. Where
applicable, the various metadata may include, but not be limited
to: the deponent's first name, the deponent's last name, the
deponent's middle initial, the deponent's name suffix, the number
of volumes into which the deposition was broken down, the date on
which the deposition was taken, the maximum number of lines per
page, the number of the start page, whether the transcript contains
page breaks, whether the transcript has page numbers at the top,
alternate page number location, page number alignment (i.e., where
the are displayed on the page), line number location, line number
alignment, timestamp location, timestamp alignment, etc. Detailed
explanations of some of these steps follow.
[0082] Find page breaks--this is relatively self-explanatory.
Parser 5000 reviews the metadata attached to each deposition
transcript and determines if the transcript includes any page
breaks, and if so, the position of those page breaks.
[0083] Find deponent name--again, this is relatively
self-explanatory. Parser 5000 reviews the metadata, and searches
several different patterns for name recognition on the cover page
of the transcript. Patterns may differ for each meta-value, but, by
way of example, for names, parser 5000 may employ various text
parsers that may comb the first page for the words "name" or
"deponent," and find nearby text that match typical name patterns
such as `John A. Doe` or `Doe, John A.`. Multiple and various
filters may be employed, each searching for common variances, such
as `Von Der Ohe,` `O'Smith,` etc.
[0084] Find date--again, parser 5000 searches the cover page and
compares the information there with several patterns for date
recognition that are programmed into parser 5000, such as Jan. 1,
2008, 01/01/2008, 1 Jan. 2008, etc.
[0085] Find volume--often, transcripts are rather lengthy, and must
be broken into multiple volumes. Parser 5000 may search the
transcript, or just the first page, and compare the information
found with several patterns for volume recognition that are
programmed into parser 5000. By way of example, parser 5000 may
search for `volume` and related number following multiple well
known and often used patterns in transcript formats.
[0086] Analyze lines--in this step, parser 5000 will parse through
a set number of lines in the beginning of the transcript, a set
number of lines in the middle of the transcript and a set number of
lines at the end of the transcript, searching for consistency or
patterns in attribute locations and alignments. By way of example,
parser 5000 may parse through the first 1,000 lines of text, the
middle 1,000 lines of text and the last 1,000 lines of text in a
transcript that contains over 5,000 lines of text. In this manner,
parser 5000 will decipher the layout of a transcript and store the
metadata accordingly. Understanding the layout of a transcript will
for easy searching and manipulation by the user at a latter
date.
[0087] By way of example, and in no way limiting, if the phrase "a
man was standing on the corner of the intersection" was said during
a deposition, a typical parsing program could not find that phrase
if "a man was standing" was on one line, while "on the corner of
the intersection" was the subsequent line. The reason for this is
because a typical deposition transcript may look like this:
TABLE-US-00001 21 12:04:32 . . . text text text text a man was
standing 22 12:04:35 on the corner of the intersection . . .
[0088] Typically, traditional text parsing mechanisms begin at the
first line of a document and continue line by line until the end of
the file. As such, a typical parsing program will read line 21 to
22 as "a man was standing line break line number time stamp tab on
the corner of the intersection." As seen, a typical parsing program
will not differentiate the important text "a man was standing" and
"on the corner of the intersection" from the metadata present,
"line break line number time stamp tab."
[0089] By analyzing these same lines, parser 5000 will, in
contrast, determine that "line break," "line number" "date stamp"
and "tab" are not textual characters but rather metadata used to
determine the layout of the transcript, thus allowing system 30 to
search the text of the documents for phrases that span multiple
lines by ignoring or removing metadata information from the
text.
[0090] It will be appreciated by those in the art that the scope of
the present invention includes the use of multiple methods to
analyze the lines. By way of example, in looking for consistency in
attribute locations and alignments, parser 5000 may parse the first
1,000 lines, skip the next 500 lines, then parse 1,000 lines, then
skip 500 lines, etc.
[0091] Determine page numbering scheme--using the line analysis
from above, parser 5000 may parse the beginning of transcript and
determine where and how the pages are numbered.
[0092] Find start page number--by determining the page numbering
scheme, parser 5000 finds the beginning page number. As will be
appreciated by those in the art, the beginning page number is often
page 1. However, in transcripts that have multiple volumes, the
volumes after volume 1 typically do not begin on page one.
[0093] Once parser 5000 analyzes the original transcript looking
for any or all of the above metadata, or any other such identifying
criteria that the user requires, the type of metadata found, and
the location of the metadata, is stored in relational database
5010. Because database 5010 contains all of the pertinent
information from the original transcript, but now stores that
information in an uniform and easily-read format, parser 5000 may
now employ any traditional text parsing mechanism to extract the
metadata and page/line data from database 5010.
[0094] Because the pertinent information is stored in relational
database 5010, a user can input search criteria, and the relevant
information and transcript text can be displayed, regardless of the
file format, or layout, of the original transcript.
[0095] A second embodiment of software application 30 is seen in
FIG. 15, in which an Upload/Edit window 350A is provided to allow a
user to easily select and transfer components of a transcript. As
depicted, Upload/Edit window 350A comprises transcript window 352A,
which depicts various portions of a transcript. Should the user
require certain portions of the transcript to be copied, the user
can highlight those portions, through transcript window 352A. Once
highlighted, the user can click the Add Designation button 370A in
order to copy and transfer the designated portions of the
transcript.
[0096] The Upload/Edit window 350A further comprises an Add
Designation window 372A. The Add Designation window 372A comprises
beginning page field 374A, beginning line field 375A, end page
field 376A and end line field 377A. If the user knows the beginning
and ending pages and lines that the user wishes to designate, the
user may add the information in fields 374A through 377A, rather
than highlighting the portions in window 352A. Once the desired
portions are designated, the user can click the Add Designation
button 370A in order to transfer the designated portions.
D. Plaintiff Designations
[0097] To assist in the designation of specific excerpts of a
deposition transcript for use at trial by various parties to the
litigation, a Plaintiff Designations window 240 may be provided,
which can be accessed by selecting the Plaintiff Designations link
240a. FIG. 16 depicts the Plaintiff Designations window 240. It
should also be evident to those with skill in the art that similar
windows may also be included for other parties, such as
co-plaintiffs and co-defendants. As shown in FIG. 16, the Plaintiff
Designations window 240 may also include status panel sections 62
that include information related to exhibits 60a and deponents 60b.
Similar to the Current Designations 234 window, the Plaintiff
Designations 240 window may display the exhibits 60a by exhibit
numbers and the deponents 60b by deponent name. The deponent name
may also act as a link to the specific deposition excerpts 344 from
the deponents transcript, which are being designated for trial. The
Plaintiff Designations 240 window may also include links for
various functions, such as Expand All 244, Collapse All 246, Send
To Excel 248, Send To Printer 250 and Send To PDF 252, as described
above.
E. Designations Management
[0098] A further embodiment of the present invention is depicted in
Figures A to C. As seen in FIG. 17, to assist a user in uploading
and preparing a deposition transcript for trial, an All Deponents
window 1000, a New Deponent window 1010 and a Current Labels window
1020 may be provided. To allow a user to create a new deponent, a
First Name field 1012, a Last Name field 1014 and a Middle Initial
field 1016 may be provided within the New Deponent window 1010.
Once fields 1012, 1014 and 1016 are populated with the appropriate
information, the user may click on a Create link 1018, which will
create a deponent, and add a new Deponent Name 1002 to the All
Deponents window 1000.
[0099] Like the previous embodiments discussed above, to allow a
user to upload a deposition transcript associated with a Deponent
Name 1002, the Add Volume link 1004 may be provided for each
Deponent Name 1002. After clicking on the Add Volume link 1004, an
Upload/Edit window (not shown) will open that depicts one or more
portions of a deposition transcript. Should the user require
certain portions of the transcript to be uploaded, the user can
highlight those portions. Once highlighted, the user can click the
Add Designation button (not shown) in order to copy and transfer
the designated portions to application 30.
[0100] The Upload/Edit window (not shown) may further comprise an
area for adding a designation. As an alternative to highlighting
the desired portions of the deposition transcript, if the user
knows the beginning and ending pages and lines that the user wishes
to designate, the user may add the information in fields provided
in the Upload/Edit window (not shown). Once the desired portions
are designated, the user may upload the designated portions to the
respective Deponent Name 1002.
[0101] As is well known in the art, deposition transcripts may be
stored in a variety of different document formats, such as: .doc
files; .pdf files, ASCII files, etc. As also known in the art,
there are a variety of ASCII file types that may be used to store
deposition transcripts. As such, system 10 may be provided with a
module that includes a parser program. When a deposition transcript
is uploaded, the parser program compiles the deposition transcript
and converts it to a standard format. In this manner, regardless of
in which format, or which variety of ASCII file, the deposition
transcript was originally stored, system 10 will display each
deposition transcript associated with each Deponent Name 1002
uniformly, and allow the user to edit (as discussed below) the
deposition transcript as needed.
[0102] Once a deposition transcript has been uploaded, Volume
Indicators 1006 may appear under the respective Deponent Name 1002.
In this manner, the user will be able to upload, view and edit
multiple deposition transcripts associated with each Deponent Name
1002.
[0103] For allowing users to select, designate or otherwise set
apart specific portions of a deposition transcript, system 10
allows the user to edit a deposition transcript as needed. For
example, an edit link 1008 may be provided under each respective
Volume Indicator 1006 that allows the user to designate, highlight
or otherwise edit certain portions of a deposition transcript, as
well as synchronize a video deposition with its written portion.
Therefore, clicking on the edit link 1008 will open Deposition
window 2000, which includes links and buttons for performing the
various functions mentioned above.
[0104] As stated above, system 10 allows a user to make multiple
designations related to the same portion or portions of a
deposition transcript. In order to easily determine which
designations have been assigned to a portion of a deposition of a
transcript, Current Labels window 1020 may be provided. As seen in
FIG. 17, various color codes 1022 may be used. Each color code 1022
may be associated by the user with a various designation 1024.
[0105] In order to delineate which color code 1022 is associated
with which designation 1024, and edit link 1026 may be provided in
the Current Labels window 1020. Once the user clicks the edit link
1026, a Label Section window (not shown) will open. The Label
Section window (not shown) may display a list of color codes,
hatching symbols or other indicators 1022, and associated blank
fields. By populating each blank field with a designation or other
various appropriate information, the user can associate each color
code 1022 with a specific designation. As discussed in detail
below, in this manner the user may designate a specific portion of
deposition transcript in any manner, such as by party, by action,
by topic, etc.
[0106] If a specific portion of a deposition transcript is somehow
designated, a color code 1022 may appear next to the Volume
Indicator 1006 in All Deponents window 1000. In this manner, a user
will quickly be able to determine whether a specific deposition
transcript associated with a Volume Indicator 1006 has been
designated, and if so, how the transcript has been designated and
by whom, without having to open and review each transcript.
[0107] As is known in the art, depositions may be recorded, among
other media, via video. If this is the case, the system 10 allows
the user to synchronize the video recording of the deposition with
the written transcript.
[0108] As seen in FIG. 18, and as discussed above, a Deposition
window 2000 may be provided with system 10. Deposition window 2000
may include an Add Designation window 2030, which will allow a user
to select and designate a specific portion of a deposition
transcript. Once the specific portion is selected, the selected
text portion may be displayed in Text window 2010. In this way, the
user can confirm that the correct deposition portion has been
selected.
[0109] Once the user confirms that the correct deposition portion
has been selected, the user may chose the specific designation to
be associated with the selected portion via drop-down menu 2032.
Designations 2034 displayed in drop-down menu 2032, from which the
user can chose, may be the same as the designations with which the
user populated blank fields in Label Section window as described
above. Once the user has selected the appropriate designation 2034,
the user may click Add Designation link 2036 to associate the
chosen designation 2034 with the selected deposition portion.
[0110] Deposition window 2000 may also include a Video window 2020.
Once a portion of the deposition is selected in Add Designation
window 2030, if a video deposition was taken, system 10 may display
the video portion of the deposition in Video window 2020, and may
do so in addition to, or in lieu of, the written portion of the
deposition displayed in Text window 2010. As is known in the art,
video depositions may be stored in any number of known formats,
such as .wmv, .mp4, mpeg, .swf, etc. However, system 10 will
display all video depositions in a uniform manner, regardless of
the format in which the video deposition was originally stored.
[0111] As seen in FIG. 19, system 10 further allows a user to
store, recall, manipulate and display various exhibits 3002. As
will be known in the art, these exhibits 3002 may be associated
with a deposition transcript, but they need not be, and may stand
alone or be otherwise associated with the trial. Window 3000 also
includes an Exhibit Window link 3008. If the user selects the
Exhibit link, a list of Exhibits 3002 will be displayed. As seen in
FIG. 19, selecting a specific exhibit 3002 will open Exhibit window
3000, in which is displayed an exhibit 3002.
[0112] As is well known in the art, certain portions of such
exhibits 3002 may be more important than others. To help a user
emphasize these more important sections, the user may mouse over
exhibit 3002, and box the important portions. When the important
portions are selected, the portion will be displayed in enlargement
box 3004, which will appear embedded in Exhibit window 3000. To
allow a user to further emphasize specific portions of the
important sections, enlargement box 3004 will allow a user to
highlight specific portions of the text by clicking on the desired
text with a mouse. It will be appreciated by those in the art that
the scope of the present invention includes any known means of
highlighting the specific portions of the text, including, but not
limited to, underlining, italicizing, changing the color of the
font, holding, etc.
[0113] While specific embodiments of the present invention have
been described in detail, it will be appreciated by those skilled
in the art that various modifications and alternatives to those
details could be developed in light of the overall teachings of the
disclosure. For example, the processes described with respect to
computer executable instructions can be performed in hardware or
software without departing from the spirit of the invention.
Furthermore, the order of all steps disclosed in the figures and
discussed above has been provided for exemplary purposes only.
Therefore, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that
these steps may be rearranged and altered without departing from
the spirit of the present invention. In addition, it is to be
understood that all patents discussed in this document are to be
incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. Accordingly,
the particular arrangement disclosed is meant to be illustrative
only and not limiting as to the scope of the invention which is to
be given the full breadth of the appended claims and any
equivalents thereof.
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