Summary

Opus have managed multiple matters with differing levels of confidentiality restrictions over the past 10+ years, including high profile litigations, arbitrations and inquests/inquiries . Based on this experience, we have outlined the following best practice procedures to ensure that confidential sessions are managed securely and effectively during hearings.

Realtime Transcript Procedure

During confidential sessions, we will revert our settings to a Daily only service whereby no live transcript will be viewable. This is to ensure that Opus 2 Platform users that are not privy to the confidential session are unable to access the same.

Alternatively, if all parties confirm that all of their current Opus 2 Platform users are privy to the confidential session then we can keep our Realtime services operating during the confidential sessions.

In the event that our services need to change to a Daily service, please kindly note that our reporters will require a 5/10 minute break when changing to a confidential session to adjust the settings on their laptops to facilitate the different service. They will also require a 5/10 minute break when the confidential session has finished to revert back to the Realtime settings.

End-of-Day-Transcript Procedure

At the end of each sitting day, our Production team will circulate two versions of the transcript where necessary:

  • A redacted transcript for recipients who are not authorised to view the confidential session
  • A full transcript for recipients who are authorised to view the confidential session

To facilitate this process, we kindly ask that the parties provide:

  • A list of email addresses for the redacted transcript distribution
  • A list of email addresses for recipients authorised to receive the confidential transcript

Electronic Presentation of Evidence (EPE) Procedure

The EPE Operator will display all documents referred to by Counsel unless specifically instructed otherwise.

If confidential documents should not be displayed on the EPE screens within the hearing room, parties should ensure that Counsel do not refer to those documents during the session, or that clear instructions are provided to the EPE Operator in advance.