Video conferencing helps settle 1 million action

A Coventry-based law firm overcame geographical barriers by using video conferencing to settle a 1 million international claim.Paul Scott, a partner in Mander Hadley & Co, realised that up to 12 witnesses would have to be flown in to testify on the injuries suffered by a 16-year-old Malaysian girl, at a cost of up to 24,000.

The claimant was left brain damaged as a result of a car crash caused by an AA recovery vehicle while on holiday with her parents in Britain in 1992.

Liability had been settled, but damages had still to be set.The electronic courtroom, set up in Birmingham, included two 21-inch screens, microphones, and independently maintained recording equipment.

The technology was supplied by video-conference booking service EyeNetwork, which also co-ordinated the operation in Malaysia.

It cost around 10,000.Three days were allocated for the hearing, but it took seven hours with a 'timetable of witnesses' ensuring that questioning was confined to 15 minutes per witness.

Mr Scott said the experience was 'pure gold'.

He said: 'Everyone - even the judge - was a lot less stuffy than they would have been in a normal court.'Issues raised by the case ranged from time-zone differences to co-ordination of picture with sound.

The claimant's barrister, Gordon Catford, said: 'It was important that we knew about the fundamental differences in working in this kind of court.

The time delay, although only a millisecond, changes the nature of the questioning sufficiently to require some adaptation.'Paula Rohan