On May 16, 2005, a jury found that seven insurance company defendants owed the State of California their respective liability insurance policy limits, totaling more than $28 million, for failing to pay a covered Superfund liability claim. That jury verdict came on the heels of settlements with other insurance company defendants, both before and during trial, of more than $120 million.
For this complex trial, solo practitioner and veteran trial lawyer Daniel Schultz of Tempe, Arizona teamed up with large firms Anderson Kill & Olick and Cotkin Collins & Ginsburg.
Dan credits much of his success at trial to his ability to leverage technology. "These tools help me to save lots of time, making me a more effective advocate," said Dan. "TechnoLawyer helps me find these solutions," he added.
So which tools did Dan use? "I used CaseMap to create a comprehensive trial database, LiveNote to search deposition testimony, eFax Plus for virtual faxes, and a Nextel BlackBerry 7510 for real-time communications with paralegals and other support people back in our war room."
Thanks to holding the trial in a forward-thinking city, Dan had WiFi access in the courtroom. "The city of Riverside has a free WiFi service in the downtown area — I was able to get a signal in the courtroom," he noted. "I used it during trial to conduct Google searches relating to the defendants' expert witnesses, other research, and also communicate with the rest of the trial team members."
He also noted the importance of a modern hotel. "I stayed at the Marriott Riverside, which had high-speed Internet access. I used it to communicate with witnesses, who needed to be apprised of when they needed to travel to Riverside for their testimony."
In recounting his experience, Dan provided a number of other technology tips, including these:
"I had an HP i450 portable ink jet printer with me to print out witness examination outlines, my opening statement, closing statement outlines, trial graphics, etc., which I would draft in the evening and then print out. No worry about not being able to get my work product printed out in the morning, as I had it right there with me in the hotel room.
"I had a portable Ambir Visigo 600 dpi scanner to scan documents used to create trial graphics.
"I took all my software CDs with me in CD holders just in case Murphy's law kicked in and I needed to re-install any of my software (thankfully, that did not happen).
"The team used a 'trial jockey' who employed Trial Director to display our trial graphics for our opening arguments and closing arguments and video deposition testimony for witnesses who could not testify live and for cross-examining witnesses. We also used an ELMO camera for displaying other documents."
So, is Dan relaxing now that the trial has ended? Far from it. "The case is not yet over, as we now have the right to proceed on bad faith claims against the remaining defendants against whom we received the favorable jury verdict," Dan observed. Let's hope Dan still has time to read his TechnoLawyer newsletters.
If you need a lawyer who specializes in representing insurance policyholders, look no further than Dan. Dan's practice encompasses Arizona, California, Wisconsin, and Washington D.C.
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