Imagine a hearing room full of high-definition monitors replacing the millions of paper folders involved in your arbitration. From small, local to large-scale, international arbitrations, innovative electronic arbitration (eArbitration) technology allows you to go paperless. By transforming how your legal team works you can make arbitral processes easier, quicker, and more cost-effective.
International collaboration
The major benefits of eArbitrations lie in their collaborative potential; they enable collaboration between legal teams, experts, and clients in highly scalable and customisable cloud-based workspaces. Integration with various eDiscovery platforms also encourages easy upload of files and document ingestion.
Collaboration within, and between, parties is especially relevant in the case of arbitrations. IAMA’s Labour Arbitration Rules state in rule 22 that: “The arbitrator may … direct that procedures aimed at shortening proceedings and minimising costs be adopted” and that “documents and reports, on which the parties are going to rely, are to be exchanged by the parties prior to the hearing and as many as is possible should be incorporated in a bundle of agreed documents which bundle is tendered as evidence at the beginning of the hearing.”
Following such directives will ensure the most efficient outcome for everyone involved in an arbitration. By embracing process improvements and enhancing their effectiveness with new technologies, cost and time savings can be immense.
Parties to an arbitration need efficient collaboration between the in-house team, clients, and any other stakeholders involved, particularly when operating across borders. Globalisation and the increased interconnectivity means everyone must adapt to change.
Global connectivity
eArbitrations address these challenges, with the aim of streamlining the user experience through the electronic presentation of evidence, the Online Review Book and real-time transcription.
Electronic evidence presentation provides numerous advantages over paper-based hearings. Documents can be presented side-by-side for comparison, with the ability to zoom in, highlight and annotate finer details. Navigating documents in native format is simple, with Excel formulas and filters also easily viewable. This means that that document presentation can be up to 30% faster than in a paper-based hearing, and that everyone in the hearing room has the same document in front of them at all times, meaning everyone is always on the same page.
The Epiq Online Review Book is a proven replacement for paper-based arbitration preparation, allowing arbitrators to prepare with the security, efficiency, and flexibility of modern technology. The Online Review Book is delivered as a secure web service accessible from any location, including the hearing room, offices, chambers, home, and any other location where an internet connection is available.
An Online Review Book provides for a shared set of documents between the parties and court, as well as a private database for each party. This approach mimics the hard copy world where each party has their own set of the agreed court bundle, plus documents that are kept private until needed (e.g. during cross-examination). This ensures that the documents viewed, searched, and annotated are kept confidential.
The Epiq real-time service provides users with a live, verbatim record of legal proceedings as they happen. Text is sent direct to laptops or iPads in the hearing room or at remote locations so that users can annotate transcripts according to issues specific to their matter. Users are also able to create customised search and annotation reports across multiple hearing days, allowing all results to be consolidated into one document.
The ability to access the Online Review Book remotely and read a transcript in real-time means that international arbitrations that involve stakeholders based in different locations can easily be heard in growing arbitration hubs such as Sydney or Melbourne.
______________________________
Epiq is the most experienced provider of electronic hearings and arbitrations in the Asia Pacific, and can help manage matters in the diverse legal and regulatory landscapes that exist in the region.
Epiq has been working closely with global law firms, corporations, and the judiciary to streamline the courtroom process for over a decade. We also have unrivalled experience in providing on-the-ground support during all stages of a matter, from discovery and case management to the courtroom and beyond.
To learn more about eArbitrations or our other legal solutions contact us at enquiries@epiqglobal.com or visit epiqglobal.com/en-au