Company now has the largest base of court reporters in the United States
ATLANTA (September 26, 2008) – Alexander Gallo Holdings LLC announced today that it has completed an acquisition of The Hobart West Group, a leading provider of court reporting and litigation support services. As part of the transaction, Alexander Gallo Holdings acquires all The Hobart West Group subsidiaries, including Esquire Deposition Services, Esquire Litigation Solutions and DepoNet. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
“The acquisition is squarely in line with our business strategy, positioning Alexander Gallo Holdings as one of the nation’s leading court reporting and litigation support services companies, with 12 companies and more than 60 locations nationwide,” said Alexander J. Gallo, president and chief executive officer. “Bringing the two companies together enables us to offer a wider array of services, bringing increased value to our clients in the court reporting, litigation support and eDiscovery arenas.”
The new company, which will be merged with existing Alexander Gallo Holdings companies Brown & Gallo, LRI,Paulson Reporting and Litigation Services, Associated Reporters, SetDepo, Jack Daniel Court Reporting & Video Services and Tankoos Reporting, now has the largest base of court reporters in the United States. Alexander Gallo Holdings offers an extensive suite of litigation support services, including court reporting, legal videography, videoconferencing, trial presentation services, document management and eDiscovery services.
Alexander Gallo Holdings is also acquiring The Hobart West Group subsidiaries Esquire Solutions and Hobart West Solutions, staffing companies that provide administrative, legal and technical staff for temporary and direct-hire placements.
“Today marks an important day in the court reporting and litigation services industry, ” said Tony Vaglica, chief executive officer of the Hobart West Group LLC. “By joining the Alexander Gallo Holdings family, we are providing our clients with an even greater single-source provider of litigation services coast to coast, and our employees with an even greater opportunity for professional growth with a company that recognizes and rewards excellence in our industry.”
About Alexander Gallo Holdings LLC
Based in Atlanta, Alexander Gallo Holdings is the one of the leading privately-held court reporting and litigation services companies worldwide. With the largest base of court reporters in the United States, Alexander Gallo Holdings has more experience in the court reporting and litigation support service industry than any other company, offering court reporting, legal video, trial presentation and staffing professionals from coast to coast. This expertise, coupled with the company’s entrepreneurial spirit and focus on superior client service, has helped the company provide quality litigation support services to clients since 1999.
Subsidiaries of Alexander Gallo Holdings include: Associated Reporters, Brown & Gallo, Jack Daniel Court Reporting & Video Services, Paulson Reporting & Litigation Services, and Tankoos Reporting, all providing court reporting services; and SetDepo, a national referral network for court reporting, videography, and conference rooms; and LRI, specialists in eDiscovery, Computer Forensics, Legal Data Hosting and Trial Presentation support.
Engate Livenote FAQs
September 29th, 2007
Livenote answers a few questions from court reporters and attorneys alike when they posted the following with regard to the Engate patents:
Q. Why did LiveNote acquire Engate?
A. LiveNote, a business within The Thomson Corporation, saw an opportunity to improve the use of realtime transcription software for court reporters and law firms. By adding hundreds of Engate patent claims to LiveNote’s portfolio, the acquisition of this valuable asset strengthens LiveNote’s position as the legal market’s leading provider of transcript and evidence management software, and enhances the company’s freedom to operate in serving the needs of this market.
Q. How will this acquisition affect the legal industry?
A. LiveNote can now make the realtime technologies represented by the Engate patent portfolio accessible to more law firms and court reporters without legal uncertainty or administrative inconvenience. Specifically, this acquisition enables users to convert from the token system employed today to a simple, flat-rate subscription model. It also underscores LiveNote’s commitment to developing the most innovative tools, as well as increasing efficiency and accuracy in the courtroom through advances in realtime
technology.
Q. Is this acquisition connected to the new Court of Appeals ruling on the Engate
patents?
A. No, this acquisition was strategically linked to the September 2006 acquisition of LiveNote by Thomson West, and was completed several weeks before the Court of Appeals handed down its decision.
Q. How will the latest Court of Appeals ruling on Engate patents affect LiveNote?
A. The December 26, 2006, Court of Appeals decision only clears up longstanding
inconveniences for customers — it does not change current business relationships. The decision merely affirms a lower court’s 2005 ruling invalidating a limited number of patent claims. There are hundreds of remaining claims in the existing Engate patents, along with a significant number of pending patent applications. These patents will enable LiveNote to continue its innovations in realtime technology and sustain the quality that court reporters and law firms demand and deserve.
Q. Does this ruling mean that the longstanding Engate v. Esquire/Atkinson-Baker
litigation is over?
A. Thomson West does not intend to continue the litigation that Engate had commenced against Esquire and Atkinson-Baker.
Q. Will there be more lawsuits against court reporting agencies that use the
technology?
A. LiveNote and Thomson West have no plans at this time to commence further lawsuits against court reporting companies or independent court reporters.
Q. How does this affect users of LiveNote realtime software?
A. The realtime license is now built into new standard software subscriptions, much like any other core feature. LiveNote subscribers may make unlimited use of our realtime software without concerns of Engate compliance or tokens. This subscription also includes the LiveNote Stream service, which provides transcript streaming over the Internet with secure instant messaging, at no extra charge (previously this service cost $85 per user connection). Existing clients may switch to this subscription plan and abandon their use of tokens at any time. To take advantage of this, please give us your name and we will have your account representative call you in the next 24 hours.
Law Firm Specific FAQs:
Q. My law firm currently uses tokens. What does this mean for us?
A. Under your current software license, you will have a continued need for token use. As an alternative, law firm clients will be eligible for enterprise-level realtime access — without the need for individual tokens. This new plan covers all LiveNote realtime connections — serial or Internet — so that your firm’s attorneys may receive live text, audio and video from the court reporter or videographer and not worry about tokens or patent compliance. The new option will simplify your firms’ litigation support and billing practices, as well as ease the administrative and technical requirements of every deposition, trial or arbitration involving realtime.
Q. What about tokens that we have already purchased? Do they expire? Can we get a
refund/credit?
A. Tokens never expire. They can be redistributed any number of times until they are used. Law firms that move to a flat-rate subscription model early in 2007 can make arrangements with their Thomson West sales rep for a credit for any returned tokens.
Q. How do we stop using the token system?
A. Contact your Thomson West representative and inquire about converting to a LiveNote subscription plan. Upon conversion, you will receive a new license code that eliminates the token requirement from the software. If you are using a current version of LiveNote, you will not need to uninstall or reinstall the application to make this change.
Q. My law firm still uses non-token LiveNote software. What does this mean for us?
A. LiveNote users have long been on notice that older versions of our realtime software are not Engate compliant. We strongly encourage our user base to upgrade to a current version of our software for legally compliant realtime use with substantially enhanced ease of use and functionality — without the use of tokens.
Q. Our law firm has always passed through our token costs to our clients. How will
that work with a flat rate subscription?
A. Your Thomson West account manager can show you a new tool that makes it easy to
track your LiveNote usage to facilitate cost recovery.
Q. Do other software products offer realtime transcription and tokens?
A. A number of other products offer realtime transcription products, though none with the range of functionality or market presence of LiveNote’s industry leading products. At present, LiveNote remains the only Engate Compliant™ realtime software; no other product uses the token system or offers other legal protection against the Engate patent.