Culture Shock
There was an initial culture shock to be overcome in moving from paper to images - they cannot be touched, marked or put on a court file. It passes.

The Need For Equipment
Another concern raised was that the necessary equipment was required in court, in solicitors' offices and barristers chambers. It was argued at the Seminar that If a party cannot afford equipment it is at a grave disadvantage. But are there legal practitioners who do not have the necessary computer equipment? Will it cost the client less than the lawyers? It should be noted that the computers used as work stations in the courtroom had the following specifications; 166MHZ, 32 RAM, 2gig. hard disk. The only unusual items of hardware were the high resolution 21" screen. They cost $240 per month to rent or $12 per day.

Training
Concern was raised that training was required to learn how to use such systems. In fact the training needed was minimal - approximately half a day (because of the simplifications that flowed from using the Internet technology).

PRE-TRIAL DISCOVERY

Mr Connor and Mr Van Den Dungen agreed that initially, it was more efficient to inspect original documents in the original files rather than the images. They said however, that the discovery database and images, came into their own subsequently.

PREPARATION AND HEARING

Images unsuitable for some purposes
The images could not be highlighted or marked. All cross examining counsel cross examined from hard copies of selected images printed from the system. The Judge had pleadings and witness statements in hard copy which enabled appropriate annotations to be made on them which could not be made on the images on the screen. The technology can now permit the marking of images.

The auditors had said that they would need to use hard copy to present their case otherwise, it was said, that the auditors task could not be explained and understood. This argument was not tested because the case settled before reaching any relevant evidence.

E-mail Communication
The complaint was made that in enabling delayed communication, recipients could be placed at a disadvantage. In response the point may be made that a party that can demonstrate disadvantage can always obtain relief from the court

Updating The Database
A lot of work was involved during the trial in updating the database particularly after evidentiary rulings This, however needed to be done anyway in one form or another and the systems used reduced the burden. Further the work was done by Systematics for all at lesser cost.

Encouraging Argument
An issue was raised whether there were more challenges to the authenticity of the documents because images and not original documents were used? I thought that there were not; a large number were challenged but only those where parties could point to a justification for challenging.

Potential Problem - Impartiality of Operator
It is essential that the operator maintain an appearance of impartiality between all parties. There were some tensions early on when the plaintiff was dominating use of the system but Systematics was able to maintain the appearance and reality of impartiality.