Database Advantages:

• Consistent objective coding will provide you accurate issue, witness, chronological, and document information reports.
• Nonstandardization of terms is not a problem since the coder is reviewing and coding the relevant legal issues, objective data, witness references, and document information. Retrieval of full text information is limited by the lack of uniformity of terms for witnesses, events, etc.
• It is generally less expensive to code, image, and link the document to the database record for instant viewing then to convert and cross reference a paper document to full text.

Limitations:

• With a database, the document population would have to be recoded for new legal issues or reference to a new factual proposition.
• Errors in database coding can occur where a search of full text materials will be accurate for the specific query that is made.

The reasonable combined use of databases, full text, and images will provide the attorney with the best electronic control of his case at a reasonable cost. The database coded fields will ensure that any individual or issue connected to the case will be consistently coded, that dates will be accurately placed in a retrievable format, and critical case objective data will be captured. Images of documents in these coded databases can be linked to a database record for instant retrieval and review of information on the document image.