Collaborate And Litigate With LexisNexis CaseMap Cloud
Newly implemented features add a fresh dimension to a unique, cloud-based tool for managing the facts of a case.
![Man sitting with laptop and smartphone](https://abovethelaw.com/uploads/2018/01/GettyImages-611752080-300x200.jpg)
(Image via Getty)
Effectively managing information across multiple cases or within a single complex matter can be essential to delivering high-quality outcomes for legal industry clients.
LexisNexis’ CaseMap Cloud is designed specifically to make information management smooth and efficient, allowing attorneys to navigate, organize, and make the best possible use of information gathered during discovery, says Product Manager Grant Snyder.
“We’re helping users take the different subsets of their discovery, whether it’s from document management systems, e-discovery tools, local files, et cetera, and manage that information to create connections,” he explains.
Gain A Deeper Understanding Of Your Case
CaseMap Cloud is unique in that the product enables legal teams to delve into the facts of a complex case without sacrificing the pace of their workflow.
In doing so, CaseMap Cloud allows attorneys to craft clear timelines of a matter and easily navigate between those timelines and any relevant source materials, such as a deposition transcript.
“We’re not a document management tool and we’re not necessarily an e-discovery tool. We’re really what comes after that: understanding the work product and doing deeper analysis in relation to those documents, media, and data,” Snyder explains.
The product’s two main features, TextMap and TimeMap, help organize the documents, images, videos, and other media or data relevant to a case while creating connections between facts drawn from those materials.
With TextMap, users can review depositions with synchronized transcripts and video, as well as other documents and media, and extract facts—users need only enter the chronology information to create a fact. Those facts then appear on a timeline created with TimeMap.
“It’s a really great, easy way to narrow down and hone in on those details to help you understand the connections between a series of events. What we’re really providing is an easy way to manage that timeline,” Snyder says.
CaseMap Cloud is able to import and manage a wide variety of file types, and the LexisNexis team has also recently added several features for light audio and video editing.
Additionally, CaseMap Cloud can import data from any application that can export information as an Excel or CSV file. The destination fields in CaseMap are highly customizable, allowing for flexibility in how users organize data for unique cases.
Keep Your Facts Straight Across Multiple Matters
While CaseMap was originally designed for use with particularly complex litigation matters, Snyder and his team have spent the early months of 2024 expanding the applications CaseMap can offer attorneys working on a broader range of everyday cases.
“Think of, as an example, the DA of Dayton, Ohio, who is potentially sifting through a hundred cases a day, dealing with both lower levels and misdemeanors that completely take up their backlog. We want to know how we can help an attorney like that manage and clarify their workload,” Snyder says.
The recent addition of client tracking numbers and a full client directory are two steps towards this goal, and Snyder suggests that both features will be particularly useful for attorneys separating out the details involved in a high volume of individual cases or, in a corporate context, multiple cases in more than one state involving the same organization.
CaseMap Cloud’s metadata tagging feature is especially helpful for comparing competing
“Let’s say that I have the defendant’s version of the truth and law enforcement’s version of the truth. I can run a search using the tag for the defendant’s version—say, 10 out of the 105 facts associated with this particular case,” Snyder says.
“I can also do this with the tag for law enforcement and then set up a comparison of those two sets of facts in TimeMap and see where they overlap.”
CaseMap Cloud doesn’t just help you keep your facts straight, however. The product’s Fact Evaluation & Status Heatmap feature also helps analyze the quality of different facts and highlight where attorneys’ efforts might best be directed.
“It’s really helpful in terms of identifying which facts might need a little bit of extra investigation or might be linchpin points within the case that are being contested by opposing counsel,” says Snyder.
Securely Collaborate From Wherever, With Whoever
At its core, CaseMap Cloud is a tool for helping attorneys effectively work together in whatever manner makes the most sense for their situation. As a cloud-based application, CaseMap Cloud can be accessed securely by remote workers working on multiple different platforms.
Users can add and remove members of their own team as needed, as well as import and label designations from opposing or co-counsel.
“I can add anybody within my firm to a case and remove them at any time. What that means is that, as a normal user, I’ll only see the cases I’ve been added to,” Snyder says.
Most importantly, CaseMap Cloud’s annotation tool allows for asynchronous discussion of facts, issues, and other aspects of a case. Users can highlight sections of, for example, a letter sent to their client, and ask colleagues to weigh in on the importance or usefulness of that section.
“I can save that highlight as an annotation and my colleagues can then reply with their own comments, similar to what we can do within other shared online resources like SharePoint or PowerPoint,” Snyder explains.
CaseMap Cloud’s highly customizable templates for managing facts are also shareable, allowing legal teams or whole firms to utilize their own best practices for metadata tagging, custom information fields, and more.
Fresh updates to CaseMap Cloud’s similarly customizable report generating features also boost attorneys’ abilities to create reports that look good whether they’re on a desktop screen or printed out for use in trial preparation.
Visit LexisNexis.com to learn more about CaseMap Cloud and schedule a demo.