Paper-free technology “saves money & reduces court days”
Electronic bundling and making use of cloud technology can save money and reduce delays in court, initial reports show.
In a recent case in the Mercantile Court at Birmingham HHJ Simon Brown used his powers under the overriding objective to request that his judge’s bundles were presented electronically with “no requirement for paper on the bench”.
This “secure cloud-based approach” means that all parties can access e-bundles using their own devices, ranging from laptops to iPads and mobile phones.
E-bundling specialist Paul Sachs says the technology offers large cost savings for the client, and considerable “de-stressing” of the bundle preparation process for the solicitors involved: “Experience shows that combining bundle preparation in the cloud with secure collaboration between parties can remove many of the traditional costs of preparing the bundle and is also leading to earlier settlement. In particular, local authorities have seen an increase in the number of early ‘suitable pleas’, which is contributing to a decrease in the number of court days when e-bundling has been used.”
Sachs, managing director of Netmaster Solutions, which supplies the CaseLines Electronic Bundle system, adds: “Our service can put together a case management conference e-bundle and deliver it to all parties in a matter of minutes. And it can be reviewed, updated and commented upon over a secure internet connection.”
