Technology in Law

In the early seventeenth- century England, the law practices and courtrooms consisted of indexes and marginal cross- references. Edward Coke’s Institutes of the Laws of England (1628), contained footnotes, indexes, citations, marginal cross-references, and, in the second edition, an index table. This book helped to make black- letter law a mile stone in legal history. Its innovations in indexing and cross-referencing stimulated new practices of legal argument.

Over the past fifteen years, the use of technology in a courtroom has changed dramatically. Today, audio-visual technology in the courtroom appears to be as important as marginal cross-referencing in Coke’s Institutes. The Skakel case, for example, points to new issues concerning combinations of audio and visual evidence in a closing argument. In Scott v. Harris, the U.S. Supreme Court delivered a textual opinion and posted a video. Viewing and thinking about video raises new legalities different from those associated with verbal evidence and opinions.

As time has progressed, so has our legal system. Advanced technology has made a dramatic entry into courtrooms across the Unites States. Attorneys and judges believe technology makes for a more effective presentation and a greater likelihood for success in a trial. Software applications such as PowerPoint and Sanction have allowed attorneys to achieve levels of convenience, efficiency and persuasiveness never before imagined. For example, Sanction is a software program that allows attorneys to organize and store thousands of documents in one place. In the touch of a button, you have the ability to retrieve a document in a split second. PowerPoint allows consolidation of video, key documents and enhancements, persuasive graphics, and audio into one presentation. PowerPoint also offers animation in which the attorney can control the flow of information, as well as to direct the focus of the decision maker’s attention. Alongside this software...