As a trial attorney, I am always looking for ways to prepare and organize my court presentations. Since Litigator is promoted as trial notebook software, I was anxious to try it. I anticipated it would offer a way to organize the items that traditionally go in a trial notebook, such as motions in limine, trial briefs, jury instructions, and pleadings.

Well . . . not exactly. There is nothing "trial notebook" specific about Litigator. However, as a document management program it does provide excellent reporting capabilities. Searched records can be grouped together into what Litigator calls "notebooks," hence the "trial notebook" moniker. This is a useful feature since all documents on a given topic are thus kept together and need not be searched for again.

Like other document management programs, Litigator has full text display and search features for textual documents. Any document that is in, or can be converted to, ASCII format can be searched, viewed and annotated with Litigator. The most common use for such programs is searching and summarizing deposition transcripts, but any text document, including discovery responses, pleadings, correspondence and notes can be added to the database. Litigator has no scanner link, but documents that can be scanned and translated with an OCR program can also be added. The software lacks the ability to access graphic images, so while the text of a document can be added to the database, there is no ability to view the original.

Litigator also links with WordPerfect, both DOS and Windows versions. Through this link, you can open and organize WordPerfect files. This is a very useful feature that is lacking in other programs I have tested. With most programs, if you want to include your correspondence in the database, you need to translate them into ASCII and then import them. With Litigator, you can work directly with your WordPerfect files. Litigator allows you to assign 30 character names to your files, instead of the usual eight.

The power of Litigator comes from what it calls the "Logical Integrated Tracking System" (LIT System). This feature automatically integrates and tracks all case documents you elect to provide and assigns a unique LIT number. The LIT number identifies the lawyer, client, file, and database record and assigns it a location. This method of organization greatly increases the search abilities of Litigator as compared to purely textual searches.

Litigator allows you to add annotations to the documents in the database. Litigator calls this the "Document Retrieval Database." To ease and speed searches, this is a structured database with numerous fields for information. Each record will hold up to 12 pages of text and comments. Search fields will also accept math functions to compile damages. Litigator will accept boolean type searches.

Litigator will run on a 286 computer. If you or others in your office are still in the DOS environment, or are using older computers, Litigator affords you the opportunity to use a well structured document management system. The publisher, Litigator Software, Inc. ((800) 795-0706), offers free technical support through an 800 number, as well as on CompuServe. The software sells for $195, and comes with a 30 day trial period.