Tips for Realtime Court Reporters Writing to Case Notebook

Attorneys using the Thomson Reuters product Case Notebook to organize, manage and share key case documents might request at their next deposition or trial to have a realtime court reporter write directly to their Case Notebook on the attorney’s laptop/iPad.  Case Notebook has built-in LiveNote realtime and stream capabilities.  (Thomson Reuters bought LiveNote.) 

I contacted Tech Support to ask if their realtime experts had any advice to give to court reporters who might have an assignment to work with an attorney needing a Case Notebook reporter.

Here are Case Notebook’s tips for court reporters:

1. Court reporter needs to download LiveNote Stream Manager onto their realtime laptop. The software is free.  I have the software residing on my laptop ready to go.  I am not waiting for an assignment.
2. Run the local stream option if you are onsite with attorney(s).
3. Use global stream if streaming to attorneys offsite. (If you need to schedule a global stream, it must be done 24 hours in advance of the deposition through LiveNote Central website.)
4. Reporters typically use wireless dongles or a network connection to connect with attorney.
5. Reporters can use a virtual port if the CAT software and LiveNote Stream Manager are installed on the same computer and you are not using a serial connection at the deposition, e.g., you are not connected to a computer with Case Notebook via a serial port.  In some cases, even if the Case Notebook computer is in the same room, you may find it easier to connect via LiveNote Stream instead of using a serial connection.
6. The most common problem when connecting is if the court reporter is connecting to a law firm’s wi-fi as a guest, and the attorney is connecting directly to the firm’s network (not as a guest). The attorney cannot toggle out of the realtime stream.  It is suggested that the reporter contact the law firm’s IT person to be able to gain access to the firm’s internal network before the day of the deposition.
7. I highly recommend that reporters download the free software and call support to run a test. 800-290-9378, Extension 4.  Once the LiveStream settings are compatible with your CAT software, they are set as a default and you will be ready to write to Case Notebook.