Morgan Smith (Cogent Legal Graphics) has come up anultra-cool way of putting together e-briefs. If you’re not familiar with theconcept of e-briefs, you’ll do well to do a little research on the topic. Many courts are nowrequiring submission of briefs via electronic files, such as PDF. I wasactually working on a review of some e-brief providers for Law Technology News,when I saw this.
Smith has a method of saving a brief in aniBooks files format, which can be viewed on an iPad. The really cool thingabout this is that although a “normal” PDF-based e-brief allows you to include extrafiles and add hyperlinks to exhibits and cites, this allows you to actually “embed”the files into the presentation, including documents and photos, plus video andeven 3-D models.
I’ll be honest – it takes quite a bit to get me excited aboutsomething “new” in legal technology these days, but this one does it. Smithshares an article on his blog, e-Briefson the iPad: An Exciting New Tool to Give Attorneys an Edge, and if you arereading this on your iPad, you may download the demo file here.
The downside is that in order to view it with all of thebells and whistles, you’ll need to use an iPad. Now, if the case is worth 7 or8 figures, it could even be worth providing one for the Court, if necessary. This could also be extremely helpful in Mediations, Settlement Conferences and Markman Hearings. Asan alternative, you can also view most of it in the PDF format, but you won’tbe able to view video, or “grab” and examine a 3-D object.
In any event,e-briefs should be on your to-do list. I look forward to sharing this with myclients. It's definitely something I can add to my arsenal.
