Thomson West Case Notebook - Manual

1 Introduction West Case Notebook is an electronic organizer and deposition tool for saving and working with important documents, research, and transcripts. With West Case Notebook you can ■ track key facts and their related issues ■ track the parties involved in the litigation ■ import and convert ...

Introduction 2 West LiveNote Repository ■ IBM PC or compatible computer with Pentium 4 processor ■ Windows Server 2003 ■ 1 GB of RAM (2 GB recommended) ■ 10 GB of available hard disk space File Types for Importing Transcripts You can import the following types of transcript files into West Case Note...

3 Managing Cases Creating a New Local Case Cases in West Case Notebook can be created for one person to use (local cases), or they can be created through the West LiveNote Administration module to be available on a network so they can be shared (secure cases). Local cases can be imported through the...

Managing Cases 4 1. Click the New arrow on the Main Menu toolbar and choose Case from the menu. The Save As dialog box is displayed. 2. Complete steps 2 through 4 above. Opening a Local Case To open a case, choose Open Case from the File menu to display the Open Case dialog box. Select your case fro...

Managing Cases 5 To access a secured case, complete these steps: 1. Access West Case Notebook. Or in an open case, choose Open Case from the File menu. The Open Case dialog box is displayed. 2. Click Repositories in the Open Case dialog box. The Repositories dialog box is displayed. 3. Select the re...

Managing Cases 6 7. Click Close . The Open Case dialog box is redisplayed with a list of the cases to which you are assigned. Note: Two types of folders may be displayed: • A brown folder indicates a local case or a secure case that is currently being accessed through the network. • A blue folder wi...

Managing Cases 7 Viewing a List of Favorite Secure Cases When you access secure cases in West Case Notebook, all of the cases to which you are assigned are listed in the Open Case dialog box. You can add one or more of these cases to your list of favorite cases, then view only those cases when you a...

Managing Cases 8 Replicating Cases Offline and to the Network Replicating a Case Offline You can work on a secure case off the network by replicating the case offline in West Case Notebook. To replicate a secure case offline, complete these steps: 1. From the File menu, choose Replicate Case Offline...

9 Managing Transcripts Importing a Transcript To import a transcript, complete these steps: 1. Click the New arrow on the Main Menu toolbar and choose Transcript (from File) from the menu. The Import Wizard–Transcript File dialog box is displayed. 2. Click Browse to display the Browse for Transcript...

Managing Transcripts 10 Opening an Existing Transcript To open a transcript, complete these steps: 1. If necessary, click Transcripts in the left pane to display a list of all transcripts in the case. 2. Double-click the transcript you want to open. The text of the transcript is displayed in the rig...

13 Updating Transcripts West Case Notebook transcripts can be updated using the following types of files: ■ E-Transcript files (PTX or EXE)—files containing transcript text, and, if the transcript is signed, the signature details ■ ASCII (text only) files—files containing transcript text, usually re...

Updating Transcripts 14 Updating with an ASCII File 1. Click the Update Transcript button ( ) on the toolbar above a displayed transcript. The Update Transcript–Transcript File dialog box is displayed. 2. Click Browse to display the Browse for Transcript Files dialog box. 3. Select the ASCII file th...

Updating Transcripts 15 Updating with a LEF File LEF files may contain the transcript with exhibit files and links to exhibit references in the transcript, the transcript with exhibit files and links to exhibit references in the transcript and synchronized video, or the transcript with synchronized ...

17 Managing Documents You can add key documents to West Case Notebook to quickly categorize and search. Importing a Document To import a document, complete these steps: 1. Click the New arrow on the Main Menu toolbar and choose Document (from File) from the menu. The Data Import Wizard–Document File...

Managing Documents 18 12. Click Finish . The document is displayed in the right pane and listed under Documents in the left pane. Importing Load Files To import a load file, complete these steps: 1. Click the New arrow on the Main Menu toolbar and choose Document (from File) from the menu. The Data ...

Managing Documents 19 6. Click Next . The Data Import Wizard–Load Files: Select the Load File Field Mappings dialog box is displayed. s 7. Assign a title to each field in the file by mapping the field. For example, to map the first field, which contains Bates Numbers, in the figure above, select the...

21 Managing Pleadings West Case Notebook allows you to add pleadings to categorize and search. Importing a Pleading To import a pleading, complete these steps: 1. Click the New arrow on the Main Menu toolbar and choose Pleading (from File) from the menu. The Data Import Wizard–Pleading Files dialog ...

Managing Pleadings 22 11. Click Finish . The pleading is displayed in the right pane and listed under Pleadings in the left pane. Opening an Existing Pleading To open a pleading, complete these steps: 1. If necessary, click Pleadings in the left pane to display a list of all pleadings in the case. 2...

23 Managing Research If you are conducting research on Westlaw, you can deliver your Westlaw search result to West Case Notebook. From West Case Notebook, you can quickly update KeyCite information and access Westlaw to conduct further research. For more information on using Westlaw, download a free...

Managing Research 24 8. Click Finish . The Westlaw result list or documents you selected are displayed in the right pane and listed under Research in the left pane. Updating KeyCite Information You can quickly update KeyCite information for a Westlaw document in West Case Notebook. To update KeyCite...

Managing Research 25 Searching for Documents To search for documents on Westlaw, complete these steps: 1. From the Search menu in West Case Notebook, choose Westlaw Search . The Search Westlaw dialog box is displayed. 2. Type your Terms and Connectors query, e.g., retaliat! wrongful! /5 terminat! di...

Managing Research 26 Importing Research Documents You can import other research documents into West Case Notebook. To import a research document, complete these steps: 1. Click the New arrow on the Main Menu toolbar and choose Research (from File) from the menu. The Data Import Wizard–Research Files...

27 Managing Key Facts West Case Notebook allows you to create key facts to quickly and easily organize, view, and share the most important facts in the litigation. Creating a Key Fact To create a key fact, complete these steps: 1. Click the New arrow on the Main Menu toolbar and choose Key Fact from...

Managing Key Facts 28 10. Click the Sources tab and select one or more sources, if desired. Sources will be listed on this tab only if annotations have previously been created. See “Working with Annotations” on page 35. 11. Click the Characters tab and select one or more characters, if desired. Char...

Managing Key Facts 29 Saving Key Facts As a West Case Timeline File You can use West Case Timeline to create a chart of your key facts. To create a chart in West Case Timeline, you must first save your key facts as a West Case Timeline (TAB) file and then import the file into West Case Timeline. For...

31 Managing Characters With West Case Notebook, you can easily keep track of all the characters in the litigation, such as parties, attorneys, experts, and witnesses, and their contact information. Creating a Character To create a character, complete these steps: 1. Click the New arrow on the Main M...

Managing Characters 32 Editing a Character To edit the information for a character, right-click the character and choose Properties from the menu. The Character Properties dialog box is displayed. Make the appropriate changes and click OK . Deleting a Character To delete a character, right-click the...

33 Working with Issues An issue is a type of annotation that relates to a particular subject. For more information on annotations, see “Working with Annotations” on page 35. Categorizing annotations in a case by issue makes it easy to retrieve all information on a specific subject when you need it. ...

Working with Issues 34 5. To reprioritize an issue and change its order on the Main Menu toolbar, select the issue under My Top Issues and click the up arrow or down arrow. 6. Click OK when you finish prioritizing the issues. Importing Issues You can create a list of issues in any word-processing pr...

35 Working with Annotations An annotation is a highlighted portion of the document text. It may be associated with an issue; a note (a comment associated with an annotation); or an attachment, e.g., a document or image. Adding an Issue Annotation Using the Main Menu Toolbar To add an annotation asso...

Working with Annotations 36 When you have finished associating a note, issue, key fact, or attachment with the annotation, click OK . If you did not select an issue, the text is highlighted with the default annotation color. Adding a Note to an Annotation The Note tab is the default tab in the Annot...

Working with Annotations 37 Transferring Annotations You can transfer an annotation to another application such as Microsoft Word, Corel WordPerfect, or TrialDirector using either of the following methods: ■ Click Send in the Annotation Properties dialog box, then choose the application from the men...

39 Working with Full Text Search The Full Text Search feature enables you to search one or more documents in the open case for specific terms. Creating a Full Text Search You can enter a search that consists of key terms from your issue and connectors specifying the relationship between those terms....

Working with Full Text Search 40 5. Click OK . Information about the search is displayed under Search Results in the left pane. Formatting a Full Text Search Using the Root Expander Use the root expander (!) to retrieve words with variant endings. The root expander must always be placed at the end o...

41 Working with Auto Tags Use Auto Tags to automatically highlight words or phrases as they appear in a document. Creating Auto Tags To create an Auto Tag, complete these steps: 1. Choose Auto Tags from the Annotate menu. The Auto Tags dialog box is displayed. 2. Click New . Then type the word or ph...

Working with Auto Tags 42 Managing Auto Tags Showing and Hiding Auto Tags If you choose not to show Auto Tags when you create them, you can show them by choosing Auto Tags from the Annotate menu. The Auto Tags dialog box is displayed. Select the Show Auto Tags check box and click OK . To hide Auto T...

43 Working with Reports You can generate reports for all Quick Marks, annotations, issues, notes, cases, searches, and Auto Tags. While viewing an Annotations, Issues, or Quick Marks report, you can return to the location in the document where the annotation or mark appears by clicking its section i...

Working with Reports 44 2. All of the issues in the case are selected on the Issues tab by default. To exclude an issue from the report, clear its check box. 3. Clear the Include Quick Marks check box, if desired. 4. Clear the Include Annotations with no Issues check box, if desired. 5. Select the O...

Working with Reports 45 Notes Report This report lists all of the annotations in a document that have a note, arranged in page and line order. To create a Notes report, first create an Annotations report. Then click the Properties button ( ) on the toolbar above the report in the right pane to displ...

Working with Reports 46 6. Click the Display tab to view a list of display options. Type a title for the report in the Title text box, if desired. Then select or clear the appropriate check boxes. 7. Click the Context tab to display a list of context options. Select or clear the appropriate check bo...

Working with Reports 47 Auto Tag Report This report lists all occurrences of the words and phrases in a transcript for which Auto Tags were created, arranged in page and line order. To create an Auto Tag report, complete these steps: 1. Click the Report button ( ) on the Main Menu toolbar, then choo...

Working with Reports 48 Saving Reports To save a report, complete these steps: 1. Click Save Report as on the toolbar above the report in the right pane. The Save As dialog box is displayed. 2. Select a location for the file. 3. Type a name for the file in the File name text box. 4. Select a file ty...

49 Working with Data Groups Document types and data can be arranged in groups. For example, you could create groups based on the different types of witnesses in a case, such as defense witnesses, expert witnesses, and plaintiff witnesses. You can select a group when you are preparing reports or crea...

Working with Data Groups 50 Using Data Groups in Reports To create a report using data groups, complete these steps: 1. Click the Report button ( ) on the Main Menu toolbar, then choose the type of report you want to create, e.g., Issues . 2. In the dialog box that is displayed, click the Data tab, ...

51 Transferring Document Text You can copy text or a portion of a document and paste it into other applications. For each document type, you will need to make certain that the appropriate button used for copying text is displayed. To display the button, click the Annotate Mode button ( ) on the tool...

Transferring Document Text 52 Transferring Text of a Westlaw Document If you are viewing a Westlaw document, you can transfer the citation with the text. To transfer text with its citation, complete these steps: 1. Make certain the Copy (with Citation) button ( ) is displayed. 2. Select the text you...

53 Using the Word Index The Word Index contains an index of words and numbers in a document along with their corresponding page and line numbers. When you are connected to Realtime, the Word Index is updated every 15 seconds. Use the Word Index to search for a word or number in the document. Type th...

55 Connecting to Realtime Connecting with a Serial Connection If you want to connect to Realtime using serial cables, your computer must have a serial port. If you have only a USB port available, you will need to provide a USB to serial adapter. (For information about serial adapters, download a fre...

Connecting to Realtime 56 Accessing LiveNote Stream Through West Case Notebook To connect to Realtime using LiveNote Stream through West Case Notebook, complete these steps: 1. Click the New arrow on the Main Menu toolbar, then choose Realtime Transcript from the menu. The Connect to Realtime dialog...

Connecting to Realtime 57 Access to Features in LiveNote Stream When you view Realtime using Internet Explorer, you are able to hear the audio and see the video and streaming transcript text. You can also stop and start the transcript text. When you view Realtime using West Case Notebook software, y...

Working with a Transcript in Realtime 60 Quick Marks Report This report lists all Quick Marks and Issue Marks in a transcript, arranged in page and line order. To create a Quick Marks report for the transcript you are viewing, click the Quick Mark Report button ( ) on the toolbar above the transcrip...

Working with a Transcript in Realtime 61 Using Issue Marks An Issue Mark is a mark at the page and line number in the margin of a transcript that corresponds to a particular issue on the Main Menu toolbar. The Issue Mark color is the same as the color of the issue. To insert an Issue Mark, click an ...

63 Working with Annotations and Video in Transcripts Playing Annotation Video Segments If the transcript you are viewing has a video associated with it, you can view the portion of the video that is synchronized with an annotation. To view the video, right-click anywhere in the annotation, then choo...

Working with Annotations and Video in Transcripts 64 Transferring Annotations to Microsoft PowerPoint You can transfer annotations and video segments to Microsoft PowerPoint and have them embedded in PowerPoint slides. Each annotation creates a separate slide. You can create a slide from a single an...