Author Archives: joewanzala

dtSearch Guide – Part I: Introduction to dtSearch

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By Tisha Davis, Derek Ametam and Joe Wanzala 

This is the first post in a multi-part blog series on using the dtSearch software. It provides an introduction to dtSearch.

What is dtSearch?

dtSearch is a software program that allows you to search large amounts of text quickly. It does this by building indexes based on the words it finds in each file you point it to, creating a word index that it continues to refer to with each search. It can be used to search entire folders of data that contain different file types. There are two steps to using dtSearch. Step 1 is building an index. Step 2 is searching it. It is a simple and effective tool for searching discovery, creating brief banks, and viewing different file types even if the associated program is not installed on your computer.

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Lab Notes: Pixillion Image Converter

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By Nelson Garcia and Alex Roberts

Pixillion Image Converter by NCH Software is a low-cost versatile tool designed to convert, compress, and edit images across a wide range of formats. A tool like this can be particularly useful if you receive image formats within discovery that won’t open on your computer, or if you need to convert images to a particular format to send to someone else.

For example, iPhones will commonly store pictures in an HEIC format and Windows computers do not have any built-in programs that can open these files. Pixillion can open and convert these files into other formats (like the commonly used JPG format).

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Adobe Acrobat in the Courtroom: Full Screen Mode

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By Tisha Davis and Joe Wanzala

Adobe Acrobat is generally used or thought of only as a document review tool, but it’s “Full Screen” mode means it can double as a presentation tool. This is especially handy because trial exhibits commonly already exist as PDF (Portable Document Format) files. Furthermore, cost considerations, practical expediency, or technical limitations can make it a good choice for certain situations.

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Batch Imaging with Trial Director

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By Claudia Kokot and Joe Wanzala

Published: September 9, 2024

With the newest release of Trial Director version 2023.8.12, you can proactively minimize delays[1] that can happen when large JPG or PDF files are opened in Trial Director’s  presentation mode. You can do this through a new, optional, process called batch imaging.  

In a recent case, a paralegal used batch imaging to eliminate lag time when she opened a file in presentation mode. She was preparing for trial and one of the exhibits was a 13-page, 10,559 KB, PDF file. The file was made up of high-resolution photographs in the JPG 2000 format. (These kinds of photos are usually seen in radiological, MRI or CAT imaging). She noticed that when she opened the file in presentation mode, it would take several seconds to launch at all and even longer for a new page to appear when navigating from one page to another. Once she batch imaged the file using the newest version of Trial Director, the file launched instantaneously when it was opened in presentation mode and there was no lag time when moving from page to page.

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Microsoft Excel Tips & Tricks for CJA Cases: Pivot Tables for Financial Fraud Analysis

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By Alicia Penn and Joe Wanzala

This post is part of an ongoing series of videos on how Microsoft Excel can help CJA practitioners (including attorneys, paralegals, investigators, and mitigation specialists) in their CJA cases.

Previous Post: Formatting Tables
Today’s Post: Pivot Tables for Financial Fraud Analysis

Introduction:

You might get a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet in your discovery. Things like bank records, call detail records, cell tower data, or tax documents are often produced in this format, as Excel (.XLSX) or .CSV files. This is good! The benefit to getting data in an Excel file, as opposed to a PDF, is that Excel will let you easily sort and filter data. For example, if you get telephone call logs in Excel format, you can easily sort the calls by date and time. You can filter that information to select specific telephone numbers and review just those calls quickly. This would be difficult to do with a PDF and would take much longer. [https://nlsblog.org/category/software-guides/excel/ ].

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