InfraWare Announces 'Readback' Deposition Reporting Service

ST. LOUIS, October 12, 2021 (Newswire.com) - InfraWare, Inc., a leading documentation technology and services firm, announced a new category of deposition reporting services called Active Reporting with the introduction of Readback, at the annual Maximum Lawyer Conference today. 

"The Active Reporting category, and Readback in particular, solve the many compounded problems associated with stenographic reporting services," said CEO, Nick Mahurin. "We have reimagined deposition reporting by bringing more than a decade of machine learning experience and a refreshing business model to leverage our court reporting group's experience. Litigating attorneys will be amazed at what is now possible to leverage their work for clients at such low cost." Today, Readback is available in an Early Access Program exclusively to existing InfraWare customers and members of Maximum Lawyer. The Early Access Program will run through early 2022 when general availability of Readback is planned. 

Depositions are a critical part of discovery in civil litigation in which witnesses are interviewed under oath to learn what they know, assess their credibility, and preserve their testimony. The record of a deposition is a verbatim transcript which has been captured for over 100 years by a steno machine operator or court reporter. There is a severe shortage of court reporters. A small portion of those who train to use the machine ultimately become successful. 

More importantly, the outdated steno machine technology constrains its operators to provide slow and expensive services to litigators and their clients. The turnaround time for certified transcripts is measured in weeks because the drafts take so much work to polish. There are typically fees for the operator to appear, fees for seeing rough drafts, fees to expedite, and more. In aggregate, the high costs and slow pace of the service limit both access to justice and the pace of justice. To add insult, long-term users of the machines often suffer from repetitive stress injuries that require surgery or prevent them from working.

This is the Information Age, and transformational progress capturing information is pervasive. Capabilities in every other industry have grown while costs have shrunk. Slow, expensive information services are no longer acceptable. That's why InfraWare conceived of a new category to bring modern capabilities to deposition services. Active Reporting is a different, more intelligent way to take a deposition. It relies on multiple simultaneous transcribers, equipped with A.I. to enable their performance, to produce text accessible to litigators during the deposition, provides a rough draft within one hour of the proceeding and a certified transcript in one business day.

Efforts by others to solve the steno operator shortage with so-called digital reporting have drawn criticism because they typically involve making digital recordings of proceedings to transcribe later. That leaves room for unexpected inaudible content. Producing the transcript on the fly ensures that all utterances are understood and captured. Lawyers have unprecedented access to challenge or clarify content as they can see text during the proceeding, see copies of the transcript rapidly while testimony is fresh in their minds, and even review the audio recording - something steno operators typically do not allow under work product rules.

Readback is InfraWare's implementation of Active Reporting. In addition to the associated technical capabilities, the Readback business model includes providing these premium services at low, flat rates based on the duration of the deposition. Instead of extra fees for real-time access to text, rough copies, and expedited delivery, those are all included. Attorneys will know the cost before the deposition begins.

Readback offers these services through a virtual service nationwide, using its exclusive Multi-Intelligence Service Team (MIST) and patented machine learning technology. A Guardian of the Record coordinates the proceeding, as reporters historically would, while the MIST prepares the transcript in the background. Freed from typing, the Guardian is available to share exhibits, provide technical support, readbacks, and to clarify inaudible utterances in real-time.

The Readback site supports an easy scheduling process and provides access to near-time text during the proceeding. 

InfraWare was uniquely qualified to develop these technologies and this business model. "Few others have both deep machine learning expertise and a history of producing over 60,000 depositions," Mahurin added.

Chief Legal Officer (CLO), Dean Whalen, Esq., reiterated InfraWare's commitment to its customers and their clients. "We believe that Readback's Active Reporting will enable attorneys to perform better in depositions, accelerate the pace of justice, and provide access to premium services that used to be available only to those clients with deep pockets. Access to the audio will provide transparency and assurance of a better record for all."

More information is available at Readback.legal and InfraWare.com.

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Source: InfraWare, Inc.