Keith Hill is a Litigant in Person who works in Events and has been a Casedo user for several years, using Casedo both himself and to help friends an colleagues prepare bundles.
After completing a Case Study for us, I caught up with him for a quick chat to find out why and how he uses Casedo.
Jim Hitch – Just to set the scene, am I right in saying that as a litigant in person you’ve been involved in more than one case? Or is there just the one case that you’ve been dealing with?
Keith Hill – I’ve been involved in more than one case. Not multiple but more than one.
Jim Hitch – And over what length of time?
Keith Hill – A couple of years.
Jim Hitch – So, during that time have you dealt with other pieces of software before you came across Casedo? And if so, what are they?
Keith Hill – I looked at various ones on the internet, and I even looked at Adobe software to see if that could provide what I needed, but it couldn’t. The other ones that I did see on the internet, they were too complicated. The UX, there was too much explaining and not enough showing.
Jim Hitch – And what did you need? You said that you didn’t think Adobe gave you what you needed. What was it at that point that you felt you needed?
Keith Hill – Simplicity. What I wanted to be able to do was to bundle a number of documents together, index them, using a platform that belonged to me, that wasn’t online in so much as it was like everyone could use it, it was just my software. Simplicity, where I could edit, control, bring in any type of document that was necessary, to then organise in a way that would be acceptable to any of the institutions or courts that was necessary.
Jim Hitch – So the offline nature of the piece of software was important to you, you didn’t want it to be cloud-based? Is that right?
Keith Hill – Well both are relevant. For example, offline, because of security concerns, offline was the option I really wanted to use. But I do recognise cloud-based work now, you’re not going to get away from it. I use iCloud.
One of the good things about the cloud-based software is that at least if I was somewhere else and I was adding certain information, I could do that in a different environment. However, what you want is a reliable cloud-based system that’s not going to fail on the night before or the morning before you’re due to go to trial.
Jim Hitch – So it’s important for you to be able to know that you can rely on the connection, because you know there’s not always going to be reliable internet.
Keith Hill – The other thing that I like about Casedo is that there are not overly-frequent updates.
And that these have enough there to be getting on with. One of the things I don’t like with software these days is automatic updates. If you’ve got to update software, you really need to know what you’re doing.
Jim Hitch – That’s a very good point. So when you found Casedo, how did you find it?
Keith Hill – On the internet. And I started to go through it and I liked it. And I thought, this is what I want to use.
Jim Hitch – What’s the main benefit of Casedo for you? You’ve been very positive about it so far?
Keith Hill – Simplicity and access to the people behind it. The ability to contact a real person – “email us or book a 30-minute call”. Even that in itself is great. The fact that the people behind it are able to explain anything you don’t understand.
Jim Hitch – So you’re using Casedo to get your papers together, and then you’re bundling them in a PDF. And then you’re sharing them with the other side in the court as a PDF. Are you using them as a PDF in court? Or are you taking Casedo in with you on a laptop into court?
Keith Hill – It goes in as a PDF bundle to the court. When I’ve done work for a particular person, they didn’t use a solicitor, and I did all the work for them. That was for a child custody case. What I was able to do was collate in Casedo all the documents sent from the court to the applicant, and all the letters sent to solicitors. Backwards and forwards from their solicitor. And I had to add a lot of background information, and add that to the bundle in Casedo.
And because I’ve done bundles before for a Royal Courts of Justice trial, I had a reasonably good idea of how it should be done. Because I used to file bundles before, for myself. This is long before PDF software. So, I’m able to refer to my original bundles by memory or physically, and to know exactly what all of the and how to present them correctly, to make them acceptable to the court. And Casedo allows me to do this.
I was able to collate in Casedo all the documents sent from the court to the applicant, and all the letters sent to solicitors.
Jim Hitch – Brilliant. So you’ve talked in general terms about Casedo. What particular features do you like, do you use again and again, for example?
Keith Hill – Drag and drop, because you can reorganise your files and folders easily. And you can also rename your documents inside Casedo.
Let’s say that you’ve got a letter that you wrote on January 1st, 2024. You put that into Casedo and then rename the title for the purposes of the bundle. You can then decide the date format for the benefit of who’s reading it, without Casedo deciding for you. And that’s one of the things I like about it, you are in complete control of how to put things together and rename them.
The other thing I was going to ask you is does Casedo have a watermark? Is it watermarked?
Jim Hitch – Good question. Documents in Casedo are only watermarked during the 30 Day Trial. Documents are not watermarked in Casedo once you have a paid subscription.
Keith Hill – And the other thing, how do I go back and forth between two documents? I know that there is a way of doing it. So I’ve got to learn how to use the software properly.
Jim Hitch – You need to add two-way links for navigating from one document to another and back again. We’ve got around 200 support articles you can look up. If that’s not how you roll what you should do is, as you you’re using Casedo, have a notepad somewhere on your computer or wherever, and make a list of questions that you want to ask me. And when you’ve got half a dozen questions, book in a call and then ask me those questions all at once. Because whenever you speak to me, you’ll forget what you need to ask. So just write a list of questions. And then when you’re ready, book in a call and I’ll show you how to do it.
Keith Hill – Okay, that’s perfect.
Jim Hitch – Keith, thanks so much for your time. And don’t forget to book a call with me when you’re ready.
Author Jim Hitch
Last Updated on December 11, 2024
First Published on December 11, 2024
Keith Hill is a Litigant in Person who works in Events and has been a Casedo user for several years, using Casedo both himself and to help friends an colleagues prepare bundles.
After completing a Case Study for us, I caught up with him for a quick chat to find out why and how he uses Casedo.
Jim Hitch – Just to set the scene, am I right in saying that as a litigant in person you’ve been involved in more than one case? Or is there just the one case that you’ve been dealing with?
Keith Hill – I’ve been involved in more than one case. Not multiple but more than one.
Jim Hitch – And over what length of time?
Keith Hill – A couple of years.
Jim Hitch – So, during that time have you dealt with other pieces of software before you came across Casedo? And if so, what are they?
Keith Hill – I looked at various ones on the internet, and I even looked at Adobe software to see if that could provide what I needed, but it couldn’t. The other ones that I did see on the internet, they were too complicated. The UX, there was too much explaining and not enough showing.
Jim Hitch – And what did you need? You said that you didn’t think Adobe gave you what you needed. What was it at that point that you felt you needed?
Keith Hill – Simplicity. What I wanted to be able to do was to bundle a number of documents together, index them, using a platform that belonged to me, that wasn’t online in so much as it was like everyone could use it, it was just my software. Simplicity, where I could edit, control, bring in any type of document that was necessary, to then organise in a way that would be acceptable to any of the institutions or courts that was necessary.
Jim Hitch – So the offline nature of the piece of software was important to you, you didn’t want it to be cloud-based? Is that right?
Keith Hill – Well both are relevant. For example, offline, because of security concerns, offline was the option I really wanted to use. But I do recognise cloud-based work now, you’re not going to get away from it. I use iCloud.
One of the good things about the cloud-based software is that at least if I was somewhere else and I was adding certain information, I could do that in a different environment. However, what you want is a reliable cloud-based system that’s not going to fail on the night before or the morning before you’re due to go to trial.
Jim Hitch – So it’s important for you to be able to know that you can rely on the connection, because you know there’s not always going to be reliable internet.
Keith Hill – The other thing that I like about Casedo is that there are not overly-frequent updates.
And that these have enough there to be getting on with. One of the things I don’t like with software these days is automatic updates. If you’ve got to update software, you really need to know what you’re doing.
Jim Hitch – That’s a very good point. So when you found Casedo, how did you find it?
Keith Hill – On the internet. And I started to go through it and I liked it. And I thought, this is what I want to use.
Jim Hitch – What’s the main benefit of Casedo for you? You’ve been very positive about it so far?
Keith Hill – Simplicity and access to the people behind it. The ability to contact a real person – “email us or book a 30-minute call”. Even that in itself is great. The fact that the people behind it are able to explain anything you don’t understand.
Jim Hitch – So you’re using Casedo to get your papers together, and then you’re bundling them in a PDF. And then you’re sharing them with the other side in the court as a PDF. Are you using them as a PDF in court? Or are you taking Casedo in with you on a laptop into court?
Keith Hill – It goes in as a PDF bundle to the court. When I’ve done work for a particular person, they didn’t use a solicitor, and I did all the work for them. That was for a child custody case. What I was able to do was collate in Casedo all the documents sent from the court to the applicant, and all the letters sent to solicitors. Backwards and forwards from their solicitor. And I had to add a lot of background information, and add that to the bundle in Casedo.
And because I’ve done bundles before for a Royal Courts of Justice trial, I had a reasonably good idea of how it should be done. Because I used to file bundles before, for myself. This is long before PDF software. So, I’m able to refer to my original bundles by memory or physically, and to know exactly what all of the and how to present them correctly, to make them acceptable to the court. And Casedo allows me to do this.
I was able to collate in Casedo all the documents sent from the court to the applicant, and all the letters sent to solicitors.
Jim Hitch – Brilliant. So you’ve talked in general terms about Casedo. What particular features do you like, do you use again and again, for example?
Keith Hill – Drag and drop, because you can reorganise your files and folders easily. And you can also rename your documents inside Casedo.
Let’s say that you’ve got a letter that you wrote on January 1st, 2024. You put that into Casedo and then rename the title for the purposes of the bundle. You can then decide the date format for the benefit of who’s reading it, without Casedo deciding for you. And that’s one of the things I like about it, you are in complete control of how to put things together and rename them.
The other thing I was going to ask you is does Casedo have a watermark? Is it watermarked?
Jim Hitch – Good question. Documents in Casedo are only watermarked during the 30 Day Trial. Documents are not watermarked in Casedo once you have a paid subscription.
Keith Hill – And the other thing, how do I go back and forth between two documents? I know that there is a way of doing it. So I’ve got to learn how to use the software properly.
Jim Hitch – You need to add two-way links for navigating from one document to another and back again. We’ve got around 200 support articles you can look up. If that’s not how you roll what you should do is, as you you’re using Casedo, have a notepad somewhere on your computer or wherever, and make a list of questions that you want to ask me. And when you’ve got half a dozen questions, book in a call and then ask me those questions all at once. Because whenever you speak to me, you’ll forget what you need to ask. So just write a list of questions. And then when you’re ready, book in a call and I’ll show you how to do it.
Keith Hill – Okay, that’s perfect.
Jim Hitch – Keith, thanks so much for your time. And don’t forget to book a call with me when you’re ready.
Author Jim Hitch
Last Updated on December 11, 2024
First Published on December 11, 2024