inside president's message
TRANSCRIPT
Autumn is the time to harvest what we have planned, planted, and cultivated earlier in the year. Our country entered 2009 after an economically brutal 2008 and continued to hurtle dramatically to record unemploy-ment, corporate “re-structuring,” real estate collapse, and social upheaval. While not immune to these events, our Chapter was fortunate to have begun 2009 having com-pleted a year characterized by a multitude of successful programs:
Pro bono clinics with the Cleveland Legal Aid Society;3Rs initiative with the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association;Informal breakfast “workshop” meetings;Monthly CLE seminars and network-ing events; andSummer and Winter Socials.
Going into 2009, our planning involved continuing our past successes while plant-ing seeds for new endeavors. In particular, we considered expanding the breakfast workshop sessions, re-instituting the Lex Mundi day-long seminar, introducing a pro bono program to assist non-profits, expanding the monthly CLE seminars into or closer to our members in the Akron area, completing a membership survey, and publishing a member directory. And, like many of you whose home gardens have been subjected to a cool summer with lots of sunshine yet little rain, our growing season has yielded variable but generally favorable results.
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As we complete our “harvest” evaluation of 2009 we find growth over 2008 levels. We continued all our programs that were successful in 2008. Our Summer Social, spon-sored by Jackson Lewis, was an exclusive preview of the newly renovated Cleveland Museum of Art. It was highly attended and well received by any measure. By the time of this publication, we will have held our Winter Social, co-sponsored by Littler Mendleson and Vestige Digital Investiga-tions, at Lockkeepers.
Additionally, we expanded both the num-ber of CLE seminars held in the Akron area (three of 12 seminars) and our breakfast workshop series (six by year end). We launched the non-profit corporate pro bono initiative — Reach Out — in col-laboration with the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association and held three seminars in that regard this year. While we did not conduct the Lex Mundi event or publish the membership directory this year, we do have commitments to complete those goals by the first half of 2010. Finally, completion of our membership survey by year-end will provide the information needed to help us improve the quality and relevance of our Chapter efforts.
As we reflect on the year’s crop with its strengths and shortfalls, we find ourselves beginning to plan for a new year and hope
to make it even better than the last. While NEOACCA has provided numerous opportunities for our mem-bers to fulfill their pro bono obligations, these activities have not been well attended. Our general member involve-ment was particularly strong
at the non-profit corporate pro bono/Reach Out CLE seminars. Our Brief Advice and Referral Clinics, however, were mainly staffed by members of the Chapter’s Board. And our committees — finance, program, pro bono, sponsorship, membership, and our nominating committee — are all Board driven and fueled. Our goal in 2010 is to actively engage more member participa-tion in the activities and workings of our Chapter. We are interested in your thoughts about these issues and ask that you give thoughtful consideration in responding to the member survey. Your assistance is vital to Chapter planning for 2010.
Harvest is also a time of thanks. As outgo-ing chapter president, I am most thankful to our board and our chapter administra-tor, Nancy Schneider, who have been the continuing source of the flourishing bounty our Chapter is able to provide. Finally, I look forward to contributing my continued efforts and assistance to our new president, Mark McClendon, and wish him good fortune in 2010.
4Q2009
Inside2...NEOACCA Pro Bono Report3...Welcome New Members3...Upcoming Seminars and Events4...Online Highlighting of Transcripts
Using CT Summation
focusPresident’s Message William T. Davis
� Northeast Ohio Chapter FOCUS 4Q2009
On October 10, 2009, seven NEOACCA Chapter members, along with alumni of Notre Dame Law School, staffed a Brief Advice and Referral Clinic for the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland. Customers entering the Westside Catholic Center were greeted by volunteer law students who handled the ini-tial intake process. The students then referred the matter to volunteer attorneys who met with the customer. We listened and found that what may have seemed like a simple question to us was often a source of stress for the people who came for advice. If the matter was more complex or required more intense legal counsel, we referred the customers to a Legal Aid attorney or asked them to call Legal Aid during the week. In just a few hours, we helped nearly 40 customers. At the very least, we answered questions and put them at ease. At best, we put them on the path to resolution of a challeng-ing situation.
Continued on page �Jonathan Dean is a frequent volunteer at brief advice and referral clinics.
Woody Ban and cindy Binns with clients at this year’s April clinic.
Volunteers prepare to greet customers before the doors open for a saturday morning clinic.
NEoAccA Pro Bono ReportBy John D. Moran and Cynthia A. Binns, Co-Chair, NEOACCA Pro Bono Committee
You may have seen the October 19–25, 2009, issue of Crain’s Cleveland Business, which discussed the need for programs of this type. Local legal aid organizations reported that they are “overwhelmed” by requests for legal assis-tance from their respective communities. One organization received more than 90,000 requests for assistance in 2008. According to one of the articles, the gap between a community’s need for help and what these organizations are able to provide is so wide that throwing money at the problem is not nearly as effective as getting more lawyers to volunteer.
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Local legal aid organizations reported
that they are overwhelmed
by requests for legal assistance from their respective
communities.
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Ann Porath, managing attorney of the Volunteer Lawyers Program and intake unit at the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland, concurred and said that while the response from the Cleveland legal community has been “wonderful,” there is always a need for more help.
We can attest to the fact that when participating in these clinics, we receive a great deal of the gratitude and appreciation from the individu-als seeking advice. You may recall that NEOACCA has staffed two clin-ics a year for the past several years — usually one on Cleveland’s eastside and one on the westside. Even though you are overworked, your free time is limited, and Saturday mornings are pre-cious, we are asking you to give up a few hours for just one Saturday a year. That means you have 51 Saturdays to attend to other matters and only one to help a community crying for help. Our next Brief Advice and Referral Clinic will be in the spring of 2010. Please consider volunteering.
P.S. We have a number of volunteer opportunities from which to choose including the Reach Out initiative, which serves non-profits, and the 3Rs program in the Cleveland City Schools. Each fall, the Chapter participates in National Community Service Day and NEOACCA is a co-sponsor of the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association’s Halloween Bench Bar Run, which benefits Cleveland-area homeless. We invite your participation and look forward to hearing from you.
John D. Moran and Cynthia A. Binns can be reached at [email protected] and [email protected].
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Continued from page �
upcoming seminars and Events
December 11 Law Department Management Breakfast Roundtable discussion addressing the confidenti-
ality of personal informationJanuary 21 1.5 CLE “Resale Price Maintenance and Robin-
son-Patman Act” presented by Jones DayFebruary 18 1.5 CLE “Say on Pay / Shareholder Access”
presented by Thompson Hine LLP
Welcome New MembersRobert Jason oblander, Cleveland Clinic
Marie A. ortman, Matrix Pointe Software
shannon K. Patton, American Greetings
Niles P. Rogers, Oatey Co.
John Moran — in full Halloween regalia — and Mark Mcclendon staffed the NEoAccA table at
last year’s Bench Bar Run.
Volunteers posed for this photo after spread-ing a mountain of mulch on a lakefront play-ground as part of National com-munity service Day.
online Highlighting of Transcripts using cT summationBy Gayle Absi
One of the more recent new features in CT Summation is the highlighting feature in transcripts. Users of CT Summation have enjoyed the feature rich transcript module that includes robust searching of a single transcript, groups or all transcripts, the ability to organize transcripts in fold-ers (or groups), creating notes and deposition digests, and creating evidence links to various other case items such as images from within the database.
Highlighting in tran-scripts can be organized by user or by issue.
By right clicking on the color palette in the transcript window, a user can assign highlighted colors to users and/or legal issues. Once identi-fied, users can review testimony, then highlight it with the color assigned. The highlighting appears on the transcripts for all users with access to the case. (See Chart 1.)
The legal team now has another online method available for transcript analysis. Benefits to online highlighting are that highlights are saved and available for all members of the team to see and use. Because highlighting can be color coded by issue or user, flexible current and future reporting is available as the case develops. Tran-scripts can be printed with or without the high-lights and filtered reports showing only the high-lighted testimony can also be printed.
filtering reports can be generated using the highlighted work prod-uct. Filters can be run against a single transcript, a group of transcripts,
� Northeast Ohio Chapter FOCUS 4Q2009
Continued on page �
Chart 1.
Chart 2.
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Chart 3.
Chart 4.
Chart 5.
or all transcripts. The filters can be for all identified issues or a subset as defined by the user. (See Chart 2.)
Transcripts can be printed with or without the transcript high-lights. (See Charts 3 and 4.)
Highlighting is another great tool to add to CT Summation’s list of fea-tures that help lawyers manage their cases. You’ll love the ability to easily assign colors to legal issues, but more importantly the flexible reporting (filters) that you have available using the highlighting as your case develops. (See Chart 5)
Gayle Absi, the president of ABSI Legal Technology, Ltd. is a Cleve-land based consultant that advises attorneys on using technology in the practice of law. She is a Summation Certified Trainer and has extensive experience in producing electronic records in litigation and designing and managing databases. Gayle has overseen complex software imple-mentation including case manage-ment and multi-location software projects. She has managed large vol-ume document-review teams using both Summation and web based tools. Gayle is the founder of the Cleveland Chapter of ASLP (Asso-ciation of Litigation Support Profes-sionals) and is currently serving as its President. ABSI Legal Technology, Ltd. is certified through the Women’s Business Enter-prise Council (WBENC), the larg-est third-party certifier of businesses owned by women in the U. S. Visit us on the web at www.absiltd.com.
Board Members and contacts
Nancy A. SchneiderChapter Administrator413 Oaknoll Dr.Amherst, OH 44001
� Northeast Ohio Chapter FOCUS 4Q2009
NEoAccA extends sincere thanks to special counsel and Jurinnov for underwriting the
publication costs of this newsletter.
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PresidentWilliam T. DavisNational City [email protected]
Vice PresidentMark A. McclendonAvery [email protected]
TreasurerJohn D. MoranGrafTech International [email protected]
secretaryWoodrow BanPolyOne Corporation440.930.3825 [email protected]
Program chairDavid G. slezakDentalCare Partners, [email protected]
Pro Bono co-chairscynthia A. BinnsGrafTech International [email protected]
John D. [email protected]
sponsorship chairRhonda s. fergusonFirstEnergy [email protected]
Board of DirectorsJonathan DeanD. Russell HoodRichard A. LegenzaNatalie L. Petersoncarl H. unterweiserMichael YaksicJ. Adam Zangerle
chapter AdministratorNancy A. [email protected]