Hutchings Mobile App

Anywhere -- Anytime - Use Hutchings' Mobile App for iPhone and iPad Connection to your Online Deposition Calendar + Transcript | Exhibit Repository

Review your deposition calendar. Download your transcripts and exhibits. And more. If you have been set up with your complimentary online access account, all you need to do is download Hutchings' free App through iTunes. (Search: Hutchings Court Reporters).

If you haven't accessed the Hutchings-hosted online repository before, please contact us at godigital@hutchings.com to obtain your user name and password.

Learn More

Maybe My Password Isn't As Strong As I Thought It Was

Submitted by Bill Jimenez, Hutchings I.T. Director

Hutchings Court Reporters recognizes that having strong passwords is an essential component to computer and Internet security.The old line of thought of having a mixture of alphanumeric and special characters make up your password has been shown to be not as strong, or as easy to remember, as stringing several words together. Use at least four random words and use them in a manner that makes sense to you in order to easily remember them.

For years, we in the computer industry, have been telling people to create cryptic passwords that include upper and lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters. We’ve been saying that if you replace certain characters with others, such as @ instead of “a”, or 3 instead of “E”, or ! instead of l, that chances of getting your password stolen are remote. Well, it would be remote, but with today’s technology, someone trying to break that password would have it figured out in 3 days with 1000 guesses/second, which is probably faster than you trying to remember what the password actually is.

Beware of "Juice-Jacking" - Security for Your Smartphone

Submitted by Bill Jimenez, Hutchings IT Director

Hutchings Court Reporters recognizes that travel could be a large part of an attorney's agenda. Many times during traveling, it's easy to use the services that are available when needed, especially when you're on a call, or need to make a call, and realize that the battery on your device is running low. This article offers pertinent insight into making you aware of the dangers of doing so as to avoid your data from being stolen.

You’re out and about, and your smartphone’s battery is about to die. Maybe you’re at an airport, hotel, or shopping mall. You don’t have the power cable needed to charge the device, but you do have a USB cord that can supply the needed juice. Then you spot an oasis: A free charging kiosk. Do you hesitate before connecting your phone to this unknown device that could be configured to read most of the data on your phone, and perhaps even upload malware?  Read more -- www.krebsonsecurity.com

Videoconferencing: Making It All Happen – No Matter Where You Are

-Martha Hutchings, Hutchings Court Reporters

I was just talking to one of our reporters about an exciting assignment she was on via videoconference. What a great use of technology to make it all happen - no matter where you are!

• Multiple telephonic participants
• Streaming realtime text over the Internet to parties
• Counsel present with the reporter locally receiving realtime feed onsite
• The deponent was located in the Middle East

Trying Your Case On a Budget - Webinar June 14, 2011 12 PST

- Jeffrey Koller - Hutchings General Counsel, Client Services

The cost to litigate cases continues to climb, and even steeper when you take them to bench or jury trial. On June 14, 1011, Consumer Attorneys of San Diego will offer a webinar presenting trial strategies and procedures that will help you successfully try your case while on a budget.  CASD offers ongoing programs on a variety of notable and practice oriented topics as well.

Coupled with what will be offered in this upcoming seminar, keep in mind the time and cost efficiences to be gained by working closely with your court reporting agency during the depostion/discovery stage.

First of all, are you aware that you can obtain online transcripts as well as deposition exhibits which can be viewed, searched, printed and then incorporated into a variety of trial presentation and related litigation software?  For example, CaseViewNet offers a free realtime viewer and transcript review program. Yes, "free." This program will easily reduce the time it takes to prepare your deposition summaries even providing you a method to draw out testimony by specific issues (i.e. impeachment, background, education, injury, etc.), as well as provide a user-friendly method to receive a realtime feed from the reporter.

Apple iPhone App Features U.S. District Court System

Alexandria, Va., June 3, 2011 /PRNewswire/

Intellectual property law firm Oblon, Spivak, McClelland, Maier &Neustadt, L.L.P., has launched an Apple iPhone application that features the U.S. district court system and offers many resources to assist and inform the firm's clients about current IP news and court decisions.

The iPhone app, "Oblon, Spivak's Guide to the U.S. District Courts" available as a free download on the iTunes application store, features interactive maps of the U.S. district court system and information on individual courts. It includes a national map and separate maps of each of the 11 U.S. court circuits, as well as state-level maps and district-level maps. Users can select a U.S. court circuit, view a map of that circuit, select a specific state and see all the U.S. district courts in that state. Selecting a specific court then provides details of that court, including its physical address, phone numbers, website address and judges and clerks. A similar resource can be found here on the firm's website.

Free Webinar: Why Lawyers Cannot Afford to Ignore Technology - June 16, 2011

Judges Panel: Why Lawyers CANNOT Afford to Ignore Technology – CLE Eligible*

Online:
June 16, 2011
1:30 – 2:30 pm ET
at Virtual LegalTech

Important White Paper Release: Secure Delivery of Transcripts Using Wireless and Internet

White Paper Released by NCRA's Wireless Task Force. 
The Wireless Task Force is pleased to announce that its white paper, titled The Secure Delivery of Transcripts Using Wireless and Internet-Based Realtime Methods, has been officially completed.
  
"This white paper is going to become the benchmark to judges, court administrators, IT professionals, and litigants, demonstrating that wireless and Bluetooth realtime are 100 percent secure," said Wireless Task Force Chair SueLynn Morgan. "We have found that the majority of federal and state courts have not yet broached the issue, and the task force wanted to be proactive and provide some certainty to the multitude of court reporters who provide a much-needed service in their courtrooms on a daily basis."

Blackberry Tablet Recalled over Faulty Software

Research In Motion Ltd. (RIM) has announced a recall of 1,000 Blackberry tablets due to a glitch in the product's software. The company announced today that the glitch may cause the tablet's software to load incorrectly. The company said most of the affected products have not been sold to customers, but those with malfunctioning tablets should contact RIM. Hugo Miller, Bloomberg 05/16/2011

Read Article: Bloomberg

How Valuable is Your Data?

Some of it is critical

    o those digital pictures you’ve always intended to print but never got around to

    o those emails from family and friends

    o those documents you created and saved

Let’s think worst case

    o What would happen if disaster struck?

    o Your hard drive dies?

    o Your computer gets stolen?
    o A natural disaster strikes?

How would you feel if all of that data were to go away and never come back? If that strikes a little fear to the heart, you need to consider a backup solution.

Bill Jimenez, IT Director at Hutchings Court Reporters shares his suggestions for backing up your data.

TrialPad: Your Path to Streamline Litigation

Hutchings Court Reporters continues to present the latest information in technology as it's being introduced. The following piece, written by Donna Seyle in her blog post "TrialPad: Your Path to Streamline Litigation", is another example as she speaks of the benefits of using the iPad in trial. You may also be interested in an article we posted on our blog earlier, "What the iPad 2 Means for Lawyers".

Written on February 21, 2011 by Donna in Virtual Law Firm Practice, future of law, innovative law practice, law practice management, legal technology.

Prepare for Depositions With the iPad Deponent App

Law Technology News

Ted Brooks is a trial presentation consultant, author, and speaker, with offices in Los Angeles and San Francisco. E-mail: tbrooks@litigationtech.com. Blog: Court Technology and Trial Presentation blog.

- - - - - - - - -
The Deponent App, developed by Majority Opinion, is an iPad app designed to help legal professionals draft questions to prepare for a deposition. You can select from over 150 questions organized by category, such as Admonitions or Expert Qualifications, arrange their order of presentation, and customize the text for your witnesses. Each question can also be linked to an exhibit. You can modify the included questions and categories as well as create your own.

Videotaped Testimony Synchronized with Transcripts - A User-Friendly Tool for all Phases of Litigation

by: Jeffrey P. Koller, Client Services and General Counsel for Hutchings Court Reporters
and Marnie Levy, SkyBlue Video

One of the most powerful tools for utilizing videotaped depositions is synchronizing the video and transcript.

Simply put, “video-sync” links each line of a deposition transcript with the video deposition so they play simultaneously. As you might imagine, video testimony and the written transcript scrolling side-by-side is a one-two punch of credibility!

In addition, the video-sync software has multiple features that make it a convenient, economical, user-friendly method for organizing, sharing, and presenting testimony before and during trial, arbitration, or mediation.

Read more

What The iPad 2 Means For Lawyers

Hutchings Court Reporters recognizes the value that tablet technology offers. There are several tablets being introduced currently and in the near future. Hutchings will be watching this technology as it unfolds and will post our thoughts as it pertains to using tablets for your depositions and case work.

Source: Jason Wietholter is the Technology Director at Opveon, a litigation support and consulting firm. Jason and the team at Opveon are making litigation more efficient and effective through the use of technology.


If you haven’t heard yet, Apple announced the iPad 2 on March 2, 2011. The iPad was a revolutionary product when it was first announced, and the iPad 2 continues on with some revolutionary changes of its own. Apple’s little iPad is growing up.

There are two major upgrades that make this iPad a much more effective and useful tool for attorneys and paralegals in virtually every aspect of the legal field. 

Is Skype Ready for Legal Videoconferencing?

submitted by Bill Jimenez, IT Director
Hutchings Court Reporters

Skype has been used to cheaply connect individuals over the Internet for years, initially as a strictly audio tool to call other Skype users in place of phones. Recently it has become popular as a videoconferencing tool.

Hutchings Court Reporters has noticed an increase in Skype requests from their clients, the most common being short, under-two-hour depositions, with witnesses at distant locations. We have used Skype to connect witnesses from Hong Kong, London, Taiwan, Chile to local attorneys. We’ve connected out-of-state witnesses to court hearings when they were unable to appear in person. Recently we used Skype to connect a homebound witness to two separate attorney’s offices located in different states.

With the latest version of Skype, you can easily connect up to 5 locations with standard Internet -- and if there is enough bandwidth available, you can connect up to 10 locations. The price for this? From Skype, you can purchase a day pass for $4.99 or you can pay $8.99 monthly. Skype software is free to download, but you’ll need a high-definition webcam, which are included with many newer laptops, or can be purchased separately between $50 to $70.

Keeping Your Computer Secure

submitted by William Jimenez, IT Director
Hutchings Court Reporters

Security is a critical component of keeping the information on your computer safe from prying eyes. Most people feel that an antivirus program is all they need to protect a computer. It is a good start, but additional precautions will help keep your computer secure.

Viruses are a diminishing part of malware—malicious software designed to infiltrate a computer. People have become very proficient at blocking viruses, especially those shared via e-mail. Because of this, malware writers are turning to other ways of infecting your computer.

Realtime Updates On Your Google Search Results

Cool Google Search Tip: Google has a feature that brings your search results to life with a dynamic stream of real-time content from across the web. Now, immediately after conducting a search, you can see live updates from people on popular sites like Twitter and FriendFeed, as well as headlines from news and blog posts published just seconds before. When they are relevant, Google ranks these latest results to show the freshest information right on the search results page.

Try searching for your favorite TV show, sporting event or the latest development on a recent government bill or world event. Whether it’s an eyewitness tweet, a breaking news story or a fresh blog post, you can find it on Google right after it’s published on the web.

Teach Your Phone New Tricks

submitted by Martha Hutchings

I just sent out an article to our court reporters about Google Voice and realize that this phone feature would be of interest to our broader audience.

Google Voice gives us a way to consolidate all phone numbers into one number. Your numbers for home, work, mobile, etc. can now ring to one phone! You can even set up caller ID.

There is a feature that lets you listen to the voicemail the caller leaves in realtime (great screening tool) plus you can have voicemail translated to text and tent to your mobile.

You can check out the features and sign up at http://voice.google.com/

#1 Way to Save on Business Travel

submitted by Martha A. Hutchings, Management and Development Director

Recently, I was reading an article on business travel trends and saw references to the various ways employees are asked to cut expenses. They are asked to cut back on meals, to share rooms, to stay in budget hotels, to fly coach and to deal with travel delays that lengthen time away from office and family.

Shortly after reading that, the news was dominated by tales of travelers trapped by Icelandic volcanic ash, and I started to think, “Why isn’t the business community looking for better ways to handle business travel?”

Here’s your solution to saving money when it comes to business travel -- DON’T GO! Arrange a videoconference instead through Hutchings!