The Future … Right Now

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The genie is not going back into the bottle — virtual and hybrid technology is here to stay in our legal and court systems.  

And that is just fine.

There are many reasons why the integration of virtual technology is a positive addition to the arsenal of tools required for legal services inside and outside of the courtroom, on many levels. Health and safety is an obvious benefit, and thanks to COVID-19 we have also seen how effective videoconferencing technology has been in aiding access to justice by maintaining fair and legal representation for all despite the pandemic.

But there are many other reasons why this technology belongs here.  

Virtual and hybrid options free up both time and resources for everyone, helping to streamline processes in an already-stretched justice system. We have long believed in the advantages of videoconferencing solutions, enabling numerous legal services to become more convenient and efficient for clients and lawyers alike. Clients simply do not need to travel long distances to meet with you, witnesses can be interviewed from the convenience of your own office or specific parties can take advantage of our various meeting spaces for a hybrid solution. We are here to help, guide and even facilitate. We have a myriad of options at your disposal.

Welcome to our Virtual Proceedings page.

Our virtual proceedings tools are at the heart of our e-solutions. We provide the latest technology and support services for whatever legal proceedings you need. From arbitrations and mediations to discoveries, we can connect you securely and safely to your clients. 

Our Virtual Proceedings page shares the basic information and technology you need to conduct your practice virtually as well as how we can help you — from setting up your calls to including a realtime reporter or facilitating the entire process.

Find out more about how videoconferencing can enhance your legal services.

Bridging the Gap – Court Bridge Solution

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Something is happening…

Much like the Second Industrial Revolution, a phase of massive development largely based on technological advancements and a new worldwide connection, our (R)evolution is marked by a similar tone.

“Technology is best when it brings people together.” — Matt Mullenweg

The justice system may sometimes be criticized for its notoriously slow pace and often strained resources, but legal technology is one area that is providing some major support to the courts through continued exploration and development.

Anyone who has been involved in legal tech over the past decade or so can attest to the fact that we have come a very long way in a very short time (especially in legal industry terms). From coast-to-coast new technology is being tested and unveiled in various levels of court in an effort to provide better access and more efficient proceedings. As we continue to explore new ways to innovate, our team is focused on developing legal solutions that ensure better access through tech that connects — no matter where you are.

It’s all about connection.

As we continue to highlight our e-solutions and legal services across the country, next up in our series is our customized court bridge solution, a specialized service that provides authorized virtual access to the courtroom.

The court bridge frees up both time and resources in expediating a court proceeding by setting up videoconferencing for witnesses to attend remotely in a streamlined and supported manner. Not only does it aid in more efficient scheduling, but it also ensures a smoother process as a whole. Our team will handle the details so you can maximize your time.

“Taking care of the facilitation of videoconferencing of remote witnesses to the court allows our clients to free up their valuable time needed for trial prep. We don’t simply just provide SIP dial‑in info, we actually liaise with the court and fill in the necessary paperwork on behalf of our clients. The process can be cumbersome for our clients, so we provide a valuable service in the facilitation of these requests. Our videoconferencing/bridging service has helped to bridge connections between local courts and witnesses as close as Vancouver and as far as Singapore.”

— Zach Bragg, Complex Litigation Manager (Reportex, a Veritext Company)

We invite you to click here to learn more about this service and review the possibilities.

Stay tuned for more e-solutions as our (R)evolution continues to unfold and follow us on social media for more tips and tricks to stay connected! #techthatconnects #therevolutioncampaign

Corporate Boardroom Bookings — Now Available at Reportex!

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Introducing our new way to save your sanity — meeting and work space for your new normal.

Many of us may have adjusted to working from home, virtual meetings and downsized office space over these past many months, but this doesn’t always work for every situation, and that’s where we come in!

Introducing our new corporate room rental opportunities to help with your professional workplace essentials.   Whether you need a stylish space for an in-person meeting or event, a tech-forward setup to host virtual calls or just a quiet place to work, we can help. 

Our Vancouver offices have over 20,000 square feet of beautiful meeting space and the flexibility to safely accommodate both individuals and groups of up to 30. Our boardrooms are designed to create effective in-person, virtual and hybrid connections, with staff and technical support available — whatever you require.

Supporting our industry as things continue to evolve and change is paramount, and this is one way we can offer some new options to our clients and friends. We’ve been saying it all along — we are in this together.

Visit our new information page to learn more about our professional amenities, custom-designed for your comfort and convenience, or contact our operations manager, Casey Dickinson, to explore your options. Hope to see you soon!

Tools of the Trade When Preparing for an E-Trial

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Digital tools were part of legal services across Canada and the US long before COVID-19. Courts, lawyers and mediators have been using digital tools to enhance the entire legal from discovery all the way through to hearings and actual trials. The ability to expand access to court proceedings hampered by distance or scope is now encouraging more people to embrace a wider use of technology across the legal industry.

Adopting technology into the legal world does not come without problems, and not everyone or every place has the ability to adapt to these tools. We have always been aware of this. Technology is a tool that can be made great only when wielded by the right people — and our team is made up of the right people. 

We teamed up with Veritext because they too saw that the future of legal services goes far beyond booking a court reporter. They too focus on the unique needs of each member of a legal team and strive to provide access to the best technology and virtual solutions as well as the highest quality network of reporters and legal videographers, and they pride themselves on providing unmatched expertise in multi-party and complex litigations. Now we can offer our brand of e-solutions expertise to clients across Canada and the US. 

Getting Ready for Your E-Trial

We want you to be eager to adopt our e-solutions, and we are here to help you build your e-trial. Let’s look at the main things to consider when you request a quote:

  • How tech-savvy are you? Will you require technical support, including a courtroom technician available throughout the examinations for discovery and e-trial?
  • Is the courtroom set up to manage the required technology? Is it set up for videoconferencing, and does it have high-speed wifi installed? 
  • Do you need a way to manage your digital documentation in a secure manner? Are exhibits, transcripts and other documents easy to find in a searchable, centralized hub?

The future is here, and the solution to providing fair and equal access to justice for all lies in your ability to welcome new technology and new formats like e-trials.

The technology required to run a successful e-trial is not large or distracting in a courtroom setting.  The basic e-trial equipment comprises a laptop, viewing monitors, a presenter workstation and additional laptops for both the witnesses and the clerk. Additional hardware may include the following:

  • routers to manage both wifi and WLAN networks
  • a wireless device, such as a phone or tablet (for mobile configurations)
  • an all-in-one printer
  • a SMART Board with at least one compatible pen or a tablet with a stylus
  • video cameras and/or external speakers

We also provide a technician to manage the technology throughout the proceedings. 

Talk to us today to learn more about what we can do for you or take our quiz to get you started!

Welcome to E-Trials

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The call to modernize the court system to ensure fair and speedier resolutions predated COVID, though the pandemic certainly accelerated the entrance of technology into the courtroom. Many trials across Canada and the US have already been moving towards a paperless or near-paperless and virtual manner.

We were ready. We have always known that adaptation of new and innovative technology would be at the core of ensuring access to justice for all Canadians. Investing in growing our technical knowledge and support in the legal service industry has always been at the heart of the development of Reportex and is one of the reasons why we joined with Veritext as they too have long understood the need to stay ahead of the changing needs in the legal system here in Canada and the US.

“Access to justice is a foundation of our society, and we simply had to learn, adapt and evolve.  And now there’s no going back. For us at Reportex, we felt a profound sense of obligation to provide guidance, support and solutions to the legal community. Court reporting is arguably a tech industry; law is not. We see it as our role in the litigation arena to bridge tradition with technology, to reinvent not just the way we deliver our services but to go a step further and actually innovate workflow options for our clients, to shape the future of litigation in Canada.  Lawyers are required to keep one foot in the past, but court reporters are not, and Reportex has been actively doing the research, making the tech investments and implementing e-solutions in discoveries, arbitrations and trials for years now.”

— Christy Pratt, RCR, RPR, CLR

The future is now: E-Trials

We have been here since the beginning. Our technicians and our complex litigation manager work with our e-solutions services to create the e-trial that fits you and your clients’ needs.

From providing independent courtroom technicians to document management and maintaining digital security, we already had the infrastructure in place. There are many things to consider when you begin to build your own e-trial:

  • Do you need one of our full-time in-court technicians?
  • Do your clients require all data to be stored in Canada?
  • Is the judge comfortable with technology?
  • Will you be marking up lots of maps or other documents?

To get you started on the road to your first e-trial, why don’t you take our fun e-trial quiz! 

Visit our new e-trials page and book a free consultation to start you on your journey today.

Introducing REMS: Reportex Errata Management Solution

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Trial transcripts of complex proceedings involving constitutional and charter challenges that will likely find their way to the Supreme Court of Canada require special care and consideration in order to ensure that appellate courts have the most accurate evidence before them. These types of trials tend to run for months or even years, and the volume of transcript pages produced can reach into the tens of thousands. Highly technical expert evidence, dense terminology, and First Nation orthographies involving multiple dialects are just a few of the challenges court reporters face when striving for accuracy and consistency across their transcripts. Add in more and more virtual courtroom attendance by counsel and witnesses, and these challenges increase exponentially. 

Why REMS?

For 15 years Reportex has utilized a complimentary errata protocol for its complex trials, giving parties the opportunity to provide suggested corrections to the reporter for their consideration prior to certifying the transcripts. This protocol is not mandatory and is only implemented if the parties choose to participate; however, in our experience, parties are pleased to have this opportunity, and their efforts ultimately ensure the best possible transcription of the evidence. 

Until recently the parties would provide their errata suggestions to the reporter by email. Depending on the number of parties involved, this could get a bit unwieldy, and this prompted Reportex to find a better solution. For the past six months, we have been building the Reportex Errata Management Solution (REMS), which we recently launched for the Cowichan Tribes trial. 

What is REMS?

REMS is a cloud-based repository (in Canada) where counsel can access transcripts (and download them individually or in batches) and enter their errata suggestions. Reportex can then respond directly to suggestions right within the REMS. The program is automated to generate email reminders of impending errata due dates, and responses to the errata are in different-colored font. Parties can collaborate on their errata lists as a team, and they can collapse/expand days to see the errata that has been received and/or responded to. There is also a prompt for reporters if they upload duplicate files, and REMS will automatically update the transcript status accordingly based on file naming conventions.  The list of features goes on and on.

REMS was built for Reportex by Penticton-based developer Colin Fletcher in conjunction with realtime reporter Kelsey Fletcher, who is currently reporting the Cowichan Tribes trial in Victoria, which was going into its 300th day at the time of this announcement.  This case involves seven parties, three First Nations orthographies (Halkomelem, Hul’qumi’num and Hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓), numerous expert witnesses and reams of historical documents. Although Reportex’s reporting/editing teams utilize well-honed systems to ensure accuracy and consistency, the sheer volume of evidence spanning years makes it inevitable that errors will creep into the transcripts.

Christy Pratt, realtime reporter, and owner of Reportex, told us that “REMS has completely revolutionalized our errata process, making things so much more efficient for our clients and our reporting/editing teams. It’s clean and polished and professional and just generally fabulous.”

Developing systems and efficiencies like REMS for our court reporters is part of what we at Reportex consider to be thoughtful extras. Enabling our teams to work more efficiently in the production of highly accurate, consistent transcripts ultimately means better service to our clients.

You can learn more about our services and solutions here.

Connect Series: Meet Monika Szucs

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Monika is the virtual proceedings technician for Reportex. She is responsible for managing and facilitating virtual proceedings for clients and assisting with technical setup and support. We appreciate the tips and help she shares with us all to keep things running smoothly.

Monika is a lifelong learner with a passion for all things digital. She has a digital design and development diploma that has given her knowledge of website development, graphic design, UI/UX, marketing and project management, and she is working her way towards her Bachelor of Business Administration. Additionally, she has obtained her medical office assistant and applied computer information systems certificates.

You seem to be always learning something new or taking more courses. Does the work you do lead the direction you take in your education, or is it the other way around?

When I was younger, I wanted to try many different job opportunities and gain experience in different areas not only to get an understanding of how everything works together but also to figure out what I wanted to focus on. I believe that knowledge is power. It is important to always keep learning even if it is in another area. You never know how the different information you learn can help make your life easier/better in the long run.

Stability is very important to me. Jobs and technologies are consistently changing. In life everything can and will change. This means having a strong foundation is important because no matter what happens, I feel I will be able to take care of my future.

At Reportex our core values of team, mentorship, equality, community and industry are central to what we do. Which of these values resonates most with you and why?

I believe team and equality are the top two values that resonate the most with me. It is important to have a team that can communicate and work on projects together. Once you have a team that is in sync, it makes completing your job a lot easier. Equality is important because I believe everyone has something unique to contribute to a team. Everyone should be given an opportunity no matter who they are. To get the maximum potential from an employee, an organization needs to leverage every individual’s strengths and find ways for them to work with others collaboratively within a team.

We have been discussing wellness on the blog and our internal Slack channels. Do you have a favourite way to recharge or any tips to share on staying well?

My favourite way to recharge would be to try new places to eat, listen to music and/or walk around outside on a nice sunny day. The best way to allow yourself to use the maximum potential energy throughout the day is to eat healthy, drink lots of water and get 8 to 12 hours of sleep each night. If I really want to boost my energy because I have been overworking, I will try sleeping for 12 hours straight for three to four days in a row.

Monika is an amazing and dedicated member of the team. Her drive to learn and grow helps keep the Reportex engine running.  

(R)evolution: The future of the workplace

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As vaccination numbers grow and case numbers continue to drop across Canada and the United States, the fear of COVID is being replaced with feelings of hope along with a bit of trepidation about what post-pandemic life will bring us. 

Throughout this time we have been fortunate enough to continue to grow our team, despite the ongoing challenges. Growth has been exciting but is fraught with a need for new structures, processes and — most of all — support. Because of this, one new role we knew we needed to fill was that of a dedicated HR specialist. Fortunately, Jenn Goble has stepped up with gusto!  Jenn specializes in change management, organizational structure, business development and expansions. She has integrated quickly and has become a calm, experienced, steadying hand during this tumultuous and transitional time.  

Everyone has had different experiences through the last 15 months, but here’s what Jenn had to say:

“We all need to recognize that we have just been through something extraordinary, and that will not be forgotten any time soon. We must expect that as excited as we are for this to be behind us and to return to normal, there will be a period of adjustment.”

So what exactly can our (and perhaps your) leadership do to help ease employee anxiety?  Open and continuous communications are key. Employers can play an important role in supporting and facilitating this to enhance connection by using software like Slack or Teams, where staff can communicate on a less formal level. Reportex also has a culture club that organizes virtual events for the staff and runs Slack channels that focus on monthly initiatives like plant care, wellness and just plain old fun. We also have a dynamic COVID committee with representatives from all of our divisions who work tirelessly to study and update everyone with the latest news and rulings around COVID safety protocols, keeping us all abreast of changes in protocol and evolving timelines. Their input helped create our current COVID-19 policy.

Reportex has been fortunate in that our business model already included many remote staff, flexible work-from-home options and collaborative work. What we are finding, though, is that the main source of anxiety is about moving into the unknown while maintaining staff and client safety, especially as our clients ramp up their in-person meetings. There have clearly been fundamental shifts to entire industries and business models, including the legal sector, and many law firms have sped up their explorations of virtual and digital technology. This is exciting, and we look forward to providing support in navigating all of these new options through our developing e-solutions. This adjustment to a more virtual world also means that many law firms have taken this opportunity to downsize their offices.

The Vancouver Economic Commission found that 43 percent of workers in metro Vancouver can and are now doing their jobs from home. While many articles online are discussing what the return to work will look like, some possible considerations for employers are whether to offer working from home as an ongoing option or whether to allow employees to split their time between home and the office, while having a plan in place to keep those employees engaged and actively participating in the workplace. 

In an interview with HRD magazine, Diana Nguyen, HR specialist and coordinator with Telus Employer Solutions, told them that “leaders need to keep teams informed of changes. This helps them better cope with any feelings of uncertainty. From here, it’s essential that you engage team members and listen to their feedback, in order to understand what’s important to them.”

Employers can also encourage employees who have questions or concerns to contact their human resource department or make sure they have an adequate employee assistance program through their benefits provider. 

As we prepare for all of this, we are giving profound consideration of what has worked effectively as well as envisioning even more new practices to support the brave new world ahead of us. We see this as a collaborative effort between our teams, leadership, clients and community to expand our collective vision of the industry as a whole.

We will continue to share our experiences as we evolve and adapt to both our needs as a business and our clients’ needs too.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on how your teams will adapt to returning to the workplace!

Uncharted Waters: A COVID Update

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Like everyone, we at Reportex are cautiously optimistic about the restart plan announcements on May 25. This new plan paves a way for a loosening of restrictions for both personal and work life. With that said, for the sake of our staff and clients we will still be following strict safety protocols when you visit our offices.

As per the guidelines, employers are required to continue operating under their COVID-19 safety plans, but there is a plan for a gradual loosening of restrictions. At Reportex this means the following:

  • We must ensure that all staff and clients maintain an appropriate physical distance, and extra care should be taken in small office spaces, meeting rooms and break rooms.
  • Masks will still be worn in all indoor areas unless there is a plexiglass barrier in place.
  • A daily health check is included in our COVID-19 protocol; clients and staff should check in with reception before proceeding to their boardroom or office.
  • Proper handwashing and sanitizing will be adhered to at all times, and regular touchpoints will be cleaned frequently.

You can review our full protocols here.

According to Dr. Henry and the BCCDC, after June 15 more restrictions will be lifted, but the government advises a controlled and gradual return to the workplace plan, so only small, in-person meetings will be allowed. For the moment this means that Reportex will still limit in-person meetings to six people, including the court reporter. It also means that access to available meeting space will be limited, and meeting spaces will be sanitized by our staff after each use.

sun shining through clouds

This has been a time of upheaval and change for all of us. Let’s not forget to reflect on all that we have learned about ourselves and what we have accomplished over the past year. It has been a time of reflection and transformation. We have learned a lot of valuable lessons over the past year about ourselves and about how we manage in adversity and difficulty. We have seen amazing acts of selflessness and compassion from all around the world, but we have also seen the ugly and the frightening, and we hope that from this COVID cloud we will embrace the silver linings that the eased restrictions bring us as we move forward in our battle against the virus.

As we all move ahead in our plans for reopening workplaces as well as recreational spaces, we need to make sure we only take the good we have learned into the new normal. We want a better future for us all, not just the same old, same old. 

Are your employees thriving working from home? Do you feel a more digital approach is expanding your opportunities beyond the bricks and mortar of your office address? This is a chance for us all to re‑evaluate what is important to us in our homes and our workplaces. In the meantime wear your mask and keep your distance.

One of the biggest silver linings for us has been the opportunity to dig into the personal and professional growth of our team. As you know, we have been focusing on evolving our office space and developing our services and solutions for our clients. We have also been working with our executive coach, Mary Crayston, who has been guiding us through the challenges and successes of continued development. This work has allowed us to prepare for the future of both our business and the industry as a whole, and we couldn’t be more excited to step into it.

Shaping the Future

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As we prepare to return to the workplace, there are new considerations about how we want it all to look.

How might we shift our focus? What has become most important? What do our teams need?

Perhaps most importantly, how can we reimagine our priorities as they pertain to our individual and collective progress. This act (and conversation) of “returning to the workplace” is becoming a conceptual hallmark of how the world has shifted and is continuing to shift.

The pandemic has shown us many things on a global level — the gaps in our systems, the highs and lows of societal need, the value of community and how we can come together in times of crisis. In short, connection is key.  

Not only have we all begun to re-evaluate our own small pieces of the puzzle, but we can see evermore clearly that our entire global economy is inextricably reliant on the human element. When humans break down, so do our systems. The one saving grace is how we are able to come together to regroup and succeed.

As humans of the 21st century we have experienced four major industrial revolutions in comparatively quick succession. It is said that we are in the fourth — a.k.a. Industry 4.0 — exemplified by the widespread implementation of artificial intelligence, global platform management and analytic-based progress and expansion. Technology has truly changed the fabric of our world and has added an element of undeniable connectivity. These phases of industrial and technological advancement have shaped us in irreversible ways.

However, throughout this pandemic experience a new layer of progress has emerged — a more profound adoption of these technologies being not only used for economical and commercial benefit but also intricately woven into our basic need for connection.

“Today, technology is changing everything — how we relate to one another, the way we work, how our economies and governments function, and even what it means to be human.”

 — Klaus Schwab

A hot topic in our industry, technology that has been in the nascent stages for decades has now finally fully entered our proceedings and our courtrooms. Our ability to properly access the justice system in this type of recent circumstance has been absolutely critical. For us it’s the exciting new territory we have already been working towards, and we are focused on remaining on the leading edge of these developments.

Our team is well positioned to continue to lead the charge through this next iteration of industry progress as we dive headlong into the future. It’s as if we are finally cresting the rollercoaster, having slowly but surely climbed each bar along the track, and are preparing for the transfer of potential energy to kinetic energy by gravitational force.

The momentum will take us, but first, there is almost a pause … a breath. We are in that moment of suspension, just before heading down to what is next.

As a company we are committed to shaping the future of our industry, fostering our community and supporting our team. Continuing to develop solutions for our clients as we move into this next phase is paramount. In essence we have entered what our team at Reportex is affectionately calling the fifth revolution — a.k.a. the Reportex (R)evolution.

Our notion of “tech that connects” carries over into our team values and our support of our community. Using integrated legal technology, we endeavour to provide ongoing mentorship through the support of key programs like the NAIT Captioning and Court Reporting program.

We recognize that we are not an island.

Our success depends on the success of the industry as a whole. Being keenly aware of the challenges our legal system faces as well as the future of court reporting across North America enables us to stay abreast of the trends and to have a hand in continued development. With an eye toward collaboration and collegiality with our counterparts across the nation, we hope to maintain a broad perspective of what is possible and how we can continue to participate in this evolution.