A modern way to meet

David Steele reports on a quiet growth in the use of videoconferencing by the legal profession

The conduct of complex legal conferences, involving lawyers and clients from across the globe, is in the midst of a major revolution.

While in the past legal teams, their clients and sometimes bundles of documents and evidential material have had to move thousands of miles at great expense in travel and chargeable hours now all parties can be brought together by the wonders of technology.

There has already been a remarkable growth in the use of videoconferencing in the legal profession and now a number of major companies are gearing themselves up to improve the service available even further.

Much has been written and said about the growth of the use of video links to protect children and other vulnerable witnesses in delicate criminal proceedings but the growth of its use in commercial practice has been an altogether quieter affair.

For understandable reasons the profession was initially somewhat nervous about conducting business which for personal or commercial reasons requires the highest levels of confidentiality.

With the increasing sophistication of the video equipment itself, and more significantly the encryption of the signals which keep them away from prying electronic eyes, the use of such systems has become more and more attractive to legal firms.

The advantages can be looked at in two ways – from a business perspective and what cost savings are involved and from a client service perspective and how that can be achieved in the best possible way.

From the former the firm will see improved accessibility, increased productivity and faster decision making with the added advantage of considerable cost savings due to reduced travel and “down time” of key personnel.

As far as client service is concerned there are many potential advantages including faster resolution of difficulties, a reduced need to travel and be face to face with an adversary or business rival and in most cases a more relaxed environment in which to do business.

Lesley Wilson, senior administrator in the Law Society of Scotland’s Update Department, is seeing an increase in interest from legal firms in videoconferencing as a business tool.

She said: “We have facilities in our offices which are used not only by the society for conducting business but by legal firms who want to hire the rooms, the equipment and the expertise.

“It now has global possibilities and only a week or so ago we had a solicitor in who wanted to conduct a meeting with a colleague in Australia.”

Lesley Wilson sees the growth continuing and hopes that more firms will try the technology.

She added: “We have conducted business meetings, including council meetings because some members including the President work in remote locations, and also use videoconferencing for training and seminars.

“It is ideal for lectures and discussion groups although workshop based seminars are perhaps better conducted with all the participants together. I believe it is the way forward.”

Heidi Berry, marketing manager of Global VideoCom, one of the country’s leading providers of videoconferencing facilities, sees the legal profession as a natural progression of the work they have been doing in the public and private sectors.

She said: “We have a wide range of clients throughout the world who have a need to communicate quickly and efficiently and who come to us for the equipment to do it.

“The service has come a long way in a few years and now with the increasing use of Internet Protocol (IP) we are able to give greater guarantees of quality of image and the reliability of the line. In the early days of videoconferencing there were issues over poor quality pictures, lack of lip synch and the unreliability of lines. Those are all things of the past.”

As far as the legal profession is concerned Heidi Berry lists four key advantages of using the new system:

• Multipoint videoconferencing between clients, solicitors and counsel which can take place despite vast geographical distances.
• Witnesses and experts being interviewed via videoconference, thereby meeting tight court deadlines more easily.
• The use of peripherals and data collaboration technology which allow all parties access to evidence and other documentation with absolute clarity.
• Competitive advantage, increased client satisfaction and faster resolution of international negotiation. Furthermore, clients may be more inclined to deal with law firms using similar technology.

Global VideoCom has its head office in Slough and offices in the centres of both London and Edinburgh and as well as offering facilities at each of these centres for setting up conferences is able to take the technology to the client.

Also in Edinburgh at its Palmerston Place headquarters is European in Scotland (EiS) which was set up ten years ago to provide a wide range of business support services and which provided the first videoconferencing suite in Scotland.

The company recognised at an early stage that technology had a vital role to play in the development of international business and it now leads the Scottish market in European and global video linking.

General manager Alastair Angus is already seeing a rapid growth in the use of their services by the legal profession but admits there is still a long way to go.

He said: “There was a reluctance among the more traditional law firms to embrace such a new form of communication. They were concerned about security and whether or not the work carried out on video links would carry suitable weight and be acceptable within the law.

“Let’s face it there were also a few fat cats who rather liked the idea of travelling the world and living in the top hotels at someone else’s expense.

“With the help of lawyers we have worked to reassure potential users of the system that the technology is safe and secure and that they and their clients can have complete peace of mind.”

Among the major uses to which EiS has already put their systems is the transmission of the evidence of expert witnesses from Scotland to the High Court in London during civil litigation.

Alastair Angus explained: “We have had a number of cases where malpractice suits are being conducted against doctors in the courts in London and the expert evidence of a witness from Scotland is required for one side or the other.

“That witness can come in to our offices and be set up within minutes to give the evidence required down a secure and confidential video link to the court. This reduces by a huge margin the costs to the legal system and also the time that this expert has to be away from the important work which needs to be done at their clinic or hospital.”

The company also handled the case of a witness from Scotland who was unable to travel to attend a murder trial in Australia but gave vital evidence down a secure video link.

Alastair Angus added: “We are confident of the service and that it will continue to provide a valuable support to the legal profession.”

Meanwhile the use of video for the purposes of the smooth running of the legal system is now also widely used in the criminal courts in Northern Ireland.

In the past remand prisoners have had to be brought from jails throughout the province for interim hearings at the courts in Belfast with the resultant costs in transport and manpower.

Now, however, after agreement among prosecuting authorities, defence lawyers and the accused persons themselves, many remand hearings are conducted remotely with the prisoner going to a private video room to see and be seen back at the court.

The courts have now to spend less time on interim hearings and the prison system does not have to devote many hundreds of man hours to the collection and safe transportation of accused.

Global VideoCom has all its details posted at www.globalvc.co.uk while European in Scotland is at www.euroscot.net. The Law Society of Scotland website is at www.lawscot.org.uk.