The primary focus in this area was once the production of courtroom bundles, rather than in-court presentation systems like those used in major inquiries such as the “Bloody Sunday,” “Diana Inquest,” or “Leveson” public events. The lockdown in 2020 and its continuation into 2021 prompted a significant increase in law firms’ in-house use of tools to create what was once known as eBibles, now more commonly referred to as eBundles. These tools were utilized well beyond courtroom or arbitration settings, as lawyers recognized the efficiency and time-saving benefits of quickly and easily creating indexed, linked bundles of electronic documents.
Historically, the primary choice for courtroom support systems was between traditional PDF-based eBibles and more generic cloud-based offerings. eBible suppliers typically had roots in scanning, while cloud-based solutions tended to favor products from Epiq and Opus 2. In 2013, Opus 2’s Magnum product gained significant market traction and should be considered by anyone involved in courtroom litigation. Both Opus 2 and Epiq provided support for online “virtual” courtrooms in 2020. If virtual courtrooms become the new standard, other offerings from alternative suppliers can be expected.
In 2014, the CaseLines product from NetMaster Solutions was adopted by the UK Supreme Court on a trial basis for document submission. Since January 1, 2016, CaseLines has been in use at all County Courts in England and Wales, creating a truly paperless office environment. In 2018, the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) Courts adopted CaseLines, becoming the first Middle Eastern court to introduce secure cloud-based technology for uploading court documents from anywhere in the world. CaseLines was acquired by Thomson Reuters in Autumn 2020.
Late 2016/early 2017 saw the introduction of the XBundle software suite, with its Assemble and View modules designed to compete in the electronic bundle creation and usage market.
Epiq’s TMX application, a collaborative platform for case preparation and presentation, was launched at LegalTech 2018. TMX is a secure, flexible, and highly scalable sharing platform that enables international clients to build electronic bundles quickly and easily for court hearings and arbitrations while providing U.S.-based users a single collaborative tool for preparing case documents for depositions and trials.
Key competitors in the in-house eBundling market include BundleDocs, XBundle, and Zylpha. Readers are encouraged to use the Guide to determine which product best suits their needs.
