What Does Automated Litigation Support Mean?
Automated litigation support (ALS) is a type of software solution that searches within vast databases for case information to lessen the time and costs for legal research as well as litigation preparation.
Within ALS, large amounts of documents are stored in a database for the purpose of user friendly searches and speedy data retrieval. Document security is written into this system support solution, which does not allow confidential records to be retrieved by anyone other than authorized legal firms. Within the ALS, electronic images and texts can be easily linked and evidence presented during the litigation process.
Techopedia Explains Automated Litigation Support
ALS enables lawyers and other legal staff fast access to pertinent documents used during trials. ALS was first developed in 1996 by systems managers working in U.S. attorney offices and helping to prepare attorneys for the Waco hearings presented before the U.S. Congress. The systems managers designed simulated courtrooms using graphics. This provided the obvious advantage of a visual picture, a useful tool for the attorneys to assist with litigation preparation.
While the medical arena struggles to go paperless as required by the U.S. federal government, the legal world is fine-tuning much of their paperless environments. Although electronic records are not fully adopted by the entire legal world, it is impressive from an electronic records standpoint that many in the arena have deliberately enlisted the talents of information technology experts and ALSs to cut down on massive amounts of paper records.