In the second article of a series on trial technology Michael Fletcher & Helen Pugh consider barriers to use
As we discussed last time, the technology is now available to permit a ‘paperless trial’ and yet, particularly given the prevalence of technology in our daily lives, relatively few trials are conducted this way (see ‘Trial technology’, NLJ, 30 March & 6 April 2018). In this article, we consider why this may be the case.
Stumbling blocks
There are many reasons why lawyers may not always use e-bundles, or the full range of trial technology. First, a significant factor is cost. E-bundles and electronic presentation of evidence (EPE) can be costly to prepare and to use, and some cases may simply not merit their use. For example, the cost of an e-bundle may not be substantially different to, and could even be more than, the cost of a hard copy bundle:
- The cost of photocopying is replaced with the cost of the bundle provider and the cost of the solicitors liaising with the bundle provider. The task of indexing documents for inclusion
