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Kirkland & Ellis Sponsors Courtroom Information Project
Williamsburg, VA and Chicago, IL: November 15, 2002 Kirkland & Ellis, the International Private Equity Law Firm of the Year, announced that it is sponsoring the Courtroom Information Project for federal and state courts.
According to Kirkland & Ellis's Bob Krupka, “The information that this project will provide our lawyers with will help them in trying the vast array of cases that our firm represents.” The Courtroom Information Project is designed to give courtroom participants the visual and technological information they need in preparing for trial in any participating courtroom in the U.S. Specifically, the Courtroom Information Project provides free public viewing of web-accessible photos and accompanying explanatory information about the nation's courtrooms via www.courtroominformationproject.org . The Courtroom Information Project is part of the Courtroom 21 Project, the world leader in court technology demonstration, experimentation, training and education, located at the College of William and Mary. The Courtroom 21 Project is a joint project of the National Center for State Courts and William & Mary Law School.
Professor Fredric I. Lederer, Director of Courtroom 21, indicated that today, courtrooms vary in size, layout, and technology- all factors that play a significant role in the determination of trial presentation strategies. Even differences such as the amount of ambient light, the distance and line of sight between counsel and trier of fact, and the location of monitors and screens are considered by courtroom presenters. Lederer says that most lawyers find themselves with an advantage when arguing in a familiar setting. For example, something as simple as showing a client or witness where they will sit in the courtroom ahead of a trial can be important. Traditionally, firms send out ‘scouts' ahead of a trial to find out the relevant courtroom information which is both time-consuming and costly. The goal of the Courtroom Information Project is to accumulate and provide this type of information for all members of the court, which will, ideally, reduce these unnecessary expenditures and further enable swift and fair court proceedings.
The Courtroom Information Project began in 2001 under the supervision and direction of Richard K. Herrmann, a partner in the Delaware office of Blank Rome Comisky & McCauley LLP. Since its inception, the Judicial Conference has authorized the participation of the United States district courts and a number of State Supreme Court Chief Justices have given their endorsement. Currently, the project is in the beginning stages of gathering the documentation from the thousands of courtrooms and courts in the United States.
In an effort to educate all court participants before trial, viewers can check for the availability of specific technology such as computer whiteboards, counsel laptop projections, or analog phones as well as learn of any restrictions their courtroom of interest might have. Digital photos of each participating courtroom taken from the various vantage points are available online.
In addition to providing specific courtroom information, there is also a feature that enables new courts to register their courtrooms and submit their details. Once registered, participating courts have exclusive access to login and update their respective records and photos as necessary. All together, the Courtroom Information Project website seeks to provide an up-to-date snapshot of the technological capabilities inside of any participating courtroom in the United States.
The Courtroom Information Project's aim is to provide timely and accurate courtroom information available in an easy-to-use web-based format all of which would not be possible without the support of sponsorship.
“Kirkland & Ellis' sponsorship in the Project is extremely valuable,” says, Herrmann. Kirkland & Ellis is an 850-attorney law firm handling litigation, transactional, insolvency, and intellectual property matters from its offices in Chicago, London, New York, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C. The London office practices U.S., English, German and international law and has been primarily engaged in private equity and capital markets transactions, including equity and high yield debt offerings, and also works in the intellectual property, mergers and acquisitions, and arbitration fields. The Firm was recently named the “International Private Equity Law Firm of the Year” by the Chambers publishing group.
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