One of the functions of the Advocacy Unit, therefore, is to
ensure that our in-house advocates are equipped with the skills
necessary to enable them to perform their tasks effectively, and so
achieve a dispute outcome which meets our clients' objectives.
Another is to equip our advocates with the tools that will assist
them to perform these tasks efficiently - i.e. without undue delay
and at reasonable cost to the client.
The head of the Unit, Michael Jones pioneered the use of IT in
case preparation and case analysis in the United Kingdom, and was
Senior Counsel in both McTear v Imperial Tobacco Limited 2005 2
SC 1 and HMA v Transco Plc 2004 JC 29, in which the
electronic presentation of documentary evidence and the electronic
transcription of oral evidence were introduced into the Scottish
Supreme Courts.
McTear was the first litigation to go to trial outside
the United States on many of the issues surrounding the smoking and
health debate. The following is an extract from the court's
judgment:- "The proof itself was conducted in accordance with
our usual procedure. What was of great assistance was the use of
modern systems. The documentary productions, on an estimate I have
been given, extended to about 85,000 pages. At least four sets of
paper copies would have been required for use in court; and
experience shows how difficult this would have been to manage, and
how much time would have been lost, had paper been used. Instead,
all the documents were scanned into an electronic database, and the
system was operated in court by an operator who was able on request
to cause any page to be displayed on screens for all the
participants to see. The evidence of witnesses and the submissions
of counsel were transcribed by two operators using the 'LiveNote'
system, which produced an almost instantaneous transcript on
separate screens with a high initial degree of accuracy… … I am
confident that much time was saved, compared with the use of paper.
The evidence of witnesses took 30 days, and counsel's submissions
took 12 days. On reviewing the transcript, and the documents which
were referred to by witnesses and counsel, I am struck by how much
was covered in that time. The use of paper, traditional methods of
note-taking, and so on, would have significantly added to the
length of the proceedings, and the difficulties of my subsequent
task in preparing this opinion."
In Transco, Michael Jones led a team of counsel,
instructed by Simpson & Marwick, for the defence. It was the
first trial in the High Court of Justiciary in which the
documentary evidence in the case was presented electronically to
the court. In addition, computer graphics were used to demonstrate
a number of complex features of the defence case, in a manner which
was designed to assist the jury's understanding of the issues.
It is now the practice at Simpson & Marwick that the
documents in all cases thought to merit it are created in or
converted to electronic format. This saves printing and copying
costs, makes transmission of information quicker and easier, and
renders case preparation, case analysis and case management more
efficient and effective.
Early in 2008, Simpson & Marwick began the development of
its own electronic knowledge base. Realisation of the concept
involves gathering together, in electronic form, legal and other
materials relevant to the various types of case in which the firm
has been or is likely to be involved on behalf of its clients. If a
new case involves catastrophic injuries, for example, the
catastrophic injuries section of the knowledge base forms the core
of the case file. The lawyers working on the case have the
immediate benefit of legal research carried out within the firm on
past cases involving similar issues. If, for example, the cost of
alternative housing is a particular issue in the dispute, the
relevant authorities, including the most recent, can be accessed in
the knowledge base within seconds.