Complex litigation involves many parties and legal issues, requiring large amounts of document production and witness testimony. Courts have developed new rules to manage these cases, and lawyers rely on support tools and specialized researchers. Court reporting agencies help retrieve documents, allowing lawyers to focus on strategy.
Complex litigation is litigation involving many parties and a multitude of factual and legal issues arising from the same action or conduct. Each party is often represented by a separate counsel and cases are prosecuted in different jurisdictions. Characteristics of complex litigation that differentiate it from ordinary litigation include the production, review and organization of large numbers of documents; the testimony of a large number of witnesses; and the synthesis of huge amounts of data involving complex calculations. Complex litigation has multiplied, with cases involving a wide range of legal issues, from product liability such as asbestos cases, commercial airline crashes and hotel fires, to commercial cases such as antitrust and class action lawsuits.
Cases falling under the category of complex litigation have placed a heavy strain on the resources of the justice system. In response, many courts have developed new rules and court structures designed specifically to improve the administration of such cases. Among the new rules are those that specifically define which cases qualify as complex and what criteria must be used in the selection of judges for such cases.
Complex litigation cases have also taken a toll on the lawyers involved, leaving them without the time to review all the evidence and prepare a solid legal strategy. This has led to the proliferation of a number of litigation support tools designed to support attorneys in their efforts to handle complex litigation cases. It is not uncommon in these cases for a team of expert specialized researchers to assume investigative and organizational functions in support of the lawyers. Such support activities generally include reviewing and annotating the transcript, performing mathematical calculations, and general clerical duties related to escalating the case to trial. In general, the researchers’ review of the evidence will have been delivered to them in digital form, allowing them to search the data in multiple ways, including by keyword, duration, and section; In addition to increased flexibility in data retrieval, electronic document production reduces the time it takes lawyers to analyze any relevant content discovered.
Attorneys in complex litigation cases also rely on court reporting agencies to assist them in obtaining documents that require special authorization. By using these judicial reporting agencies to retrieve documents during complex litigation, attorneys are able to delegate functions that would normally tax the resources of their in-house staff. This allows their team members to work directly with attorneys to develop a winning court strategy.
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