Thomas & Thomas Court Reporters - Court Reporters, Remote Depositions, Trial Presentation Services

VIENNA, Va., May 22, 2014—The National Court Reporters Association (NCRA), the country’s leading organization representing stenographic court reporters and captioners, has announced that attorney Geoffrey S. Thomas has earned the nationally recognized Trial Presentation Professional certificate, acknowledging his high level of knowledge and understanding of the use of electronics in trial presentation software to present evidence in court. 

“As new technologies emerge, IT professionals, courtroom personnel, and trial presenters often have a wide range of equipment available to them in each new situation,” says Jim Cudahy, CEO and executive director of NCRA. “Trial Presentation Professionals are well versed in recognizing new technology and equipment and in determining which types are best suited to present evidence for the courtroom situation to in question.”

Thomas, from Omaha, Nebraska, is a member of NCRA and has worked in the court reporting industry since 2012. Thomas is currently employed at Thomas & Thomas Court Reporters and Certified Legal Video, LLC.

The certificates are awarded to legal videographers, reporters, IT professionals, attorneys and paralegals who hold the knowledge and understanding of the use of electronic trial presentation software to present evidence in court. The certificate is awarded upon completion of a one-and-one-half day-long seminar and passage of a comprehensive written exam that focuses on presenting evidence at trial via multiple software platforms.

“I am excited to be able to offer our clients throughout Nebraska, Iowa and the Midwest professional trial presentation services.  Being able to competently and confidently provide assistance to attorneys in the courtroom will just add to the numerous services Thomas & Thomas Court Reporters already offers.  The future of courtroom advocacy is rooted in technology and we are eager to be at the forefront of that shift."

Have you ever flown in for a high-stakes deposition only to discover a tiny conference room, unprepared reporter, inadequate IT support and no one to solve your problem?

When you travel for a multijurisdictional case, count on Thomas & Thomas to provide exemplary customer service from local partners of the NNRC.  These independently owned and operated firms are vetted to assure that they will deliver, across the United and around the world.

NNRC is the most prestigious and largest litigation support network in the country, covering 1500+ jobs per day, handling more than 10 million depositions since 1983.  The select partners of NNRC have been personally recommended and assessed as the most technologically advanced and dependable court reporting companies in the USA and worldwide.

Get the value and quality you expect from professional court reporting agencies with local knowledge, anywhere in the world:

Geoff Thomas, head of business and technology development at Thomas & Thomas Court Reporters, was spotted at The Omaha Bar Association's Annual Wine & Cheese Event at Brix Village Point.  Geoff was one of almost 300 lawyers, judges, law students, and their significant others who attended the February 21, 2014 event.  The event featured a variety of red and white wines, with knowledgeable servers explaining the subtleties of each.  Not only was the event a social success, but it was also a philanthropic success when the Omaha Bar Association presented Lynda Henningsen, publisher of The Daily Record, with a donation to Legal Aid of Nebraska.

Videotaped Depositions

Imagine yourself in the courtroom, you are cross-examining the plaintiff (or defendant), and he or she says something contradictory to her previously recorded deposition testimony. Normally, you would attempt to impeach that individual by having him or her read back his or her inconsistent testimony from the deposition transcript and the jury would get the general picture. But what if, instead, you were able to play back a video of the plaintiff making those same statements as if he or she had just said them? Not only would the jury SEE the text from the transcript contradicting the words she just said, they would also SEE the plaintiff making those conflicting statements right in front of them.

This is only one of many examples where video depositions can make or break a case, and although video depositions do not eliminate the need for a transcribed record, it does enhance it. Below are several other benefits to having your next deposition videotaped:

• EXPERT WITNESSES: The cost of deposing an expert and then having that expert testify at trial can be cost prohibitive. By videotaping your expert witness's deposition, you can simply play it back at trial for the jury and/or judge without incurring additional costs.
• PRESERVATION: Witnesses are sometimes elderly, ill, or illusive and may not be available for trial. By videotaping their depositions, you ensure a visual representation of that witness's testimony for trial.
• VISUAL REPRESENTATION: Videotaping a witness's depositionalso provides a visual representation of what the witness's demeanor and non-verbal cues were at a deposition. When witnesses are aggressive or abrasive during a deposition, videotaping can get the witness to cooperate and answer your questions more freely. If they do not, you are able to show that demeanor in court.
• DAY-IN-THE-LIFE: Visually capturing how your client was affected by the event in question can prove instrumental in obtaining a favorable verdict or settlement. By laying out the background and facts, you are able to paint the picture in the light most favorable for your client.

Visual Aids

Whether you are impeaching a witness with a synchronized deposition or appealing to the emotional nature of jurors by showing a day-in-the-life video, the science shows that visual aids are more influential than just spoken words.

• People forget about 2/3 of what they hear (The Wechsler Memory Scale - 1946).
• "Trial attorneys unknowingly present arguments and issues that exceed jurors' capacity to understand . . . being confused or feeling intellectually inferior is psychologically uncomfortable, and jurors may respond with resentment and antagonism toward the presenting attorney." Presenting information visually simplifies and reinforces your point (Enhancing Juror Comprehension and Memory Retention - 1989).
• Those exposed to graphics are more persuaded to act than those who are not (The Persuasive Effect of Graphics in Computer-Mediated Communication - 1991).
• Practicing attorneys and non-lawyers prefer to learn and communicate differently. A majority of non-lawyers prefer visual communications. A majority of attorneys prefer non-visual communications. Thus, litigators should bridge the communication divide by using visual courtroom presentations (A2L's Communication Style Study - 2003).
• Visual aids in courtroom presentations enhance juror attention and improve recall of key events (Visual Evidence - 2010).
• An immersive use of graphics during courtroom presentations (as opposed to far and few between) yield the best result (Broda-Bahm Study - 2011).

Synchronized Videotaped Depositions

Whether your videotaped deposition is 10 minutes or 10 hours long, pinpointing a specific word or phrase can be difficult. Fast-forwarding and rewinding can be time consuming and frustrating. Synchronizing a transcript to the videotaped deposition eliminates all of that. Plus, it provides you with several other beneficial tools for viewing and playing your videotaped deposition.

Sync your next videotaped deposition and you will be able to:

• Instantly search a video for a particular word or phrase
• Easily create clips to impeach witnesses or to show to the jury
• Easily create still images from the video
• Show text and video at the same time to help provide clarity to a witness's testimony

Thomas & Thomas Court Reporters has lead the way in court reporting technology and we welcome the opportunity to assist you with any court reporting issues you may have.  Please call our office to schedule a personal meeting where we can show you the benefits of a wide array of court reporting technologies.  We look forward to making your life easier.

Excerpt:

LAWYERS of the Criminal Bar Association intend to take legal action against Attorney General Allyson Maynard-Gibson for the removal of stenographers from the Magistrate's Court.

This action comes nearly a month after calling a press conference to protest the removal of court reporters, leaving it to magistrates to take handwritten notes until digital recording comes on stream later this year.

Lawyers gathered yesterday at the steps of the Nassau and South Streets court complex, and indicated that they are taking the issue to the Supreme Court.

"Since then (February 14), there has been some discussion with the stakeholders and decision makers," lawyer Murrio Ducille told the media.

"The AG suggested that we may choose to bring our court reporter, but the problem is our court reporter's record would assist us, but it's not the official record of the proceedings in the trial, the magistrate's notes are," he added.

"Matters are being adjourned, but some magistrates are proceeding with trials despite the reasoned objections by defence counsel on instructions from their clients. This has created some disquiet among some magistrates who see our assertion of our client's right to a fair trial as a hindrance in what they are required to do... to make an accurate recording of the evidence and legal arguments in the proceeding... no more, no less."

"It is a no-brainer that one cannot record accurately or at all anything relevant and important if one does not write what is said as part of the trial process. As one client puts it, 'the magistrates do not go to jail, I do. I need to have my case properly recorded if I am convicted and have to appeal'."

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Article by Lamech Johnson of the Tribune Staff Reporter