A press release from the McHenry County Circuit Court:

Virtual Witness Testifies at Trial

The seal of the 22nd District Circuit Court.

The Twenty Second Judicial Circuit of McHenry County has recently made use of Microsoft Lync as a means to have an expert witness testify during a civil trial, from Manhattan, New York.

Microsoft Lync was developed to allow users to video conference and in real time share computer desktops, work collaboratively using whiteboard documents and share applications.

The Twenty Second Judicial Circuit with the assistance of the McHenry County Information Technology Department was able to utilize both the video conferencing and desktop sharing capabilities during the testimony.

Everyone involved with the trial was impressed with the technology.

Cynthia S. Kisser, Esq. of Lawrence H. Hyman & Associates stated,

“From a technical standpoint, the delivery of our trial expert’s live testimony via video conferencing was flawless. The Court Administration’s staff for the 22d Judicial Circuit, under the direction of Dan Wallis, made sure that we were able to go right to the expert exactly when we wanted to call him as a witness in our case-in-chief.

“The fact that the expert, a physician, was able to use desk top virtualization to make notes directly onto a medical illustration was especially helpful because the jury could easily see the illustration and easily read his notes on the large screen in the court room.”

After the trial had concluded, Associate Judge Thomas A. Meyer, questioned the jurors regarding the use of Microsoft Lync, and received positive feedback.

“Because the witness was able to testify directly from New York City, where he practices medicine he had little difficulty arranging his own scheduled to be available for trial, where, had he been required to fly to Illinois, he might not have been able to arrange to do so.

“The cost-savings to our firm is appreciated as well, since we did not have to pay the travel expenses usually associated with having an out-of-state expert attend a trial.” Kisser continued.

Video conferencing is an excellent service the Twenty Second Judicial Circuit offers and it is anticipated that as other attorneys become aware of its value, it will become more popular in the future. For more information contact Dan Wallis, Trial Court Administrator at (815) 334-4351.