Major real-time case for Merrill in Australia

James Hardie Industries Ltd is an industrial building materials company listed on the Australian Securities Exchange which specialises in fibre cement products. For much of the early part of the 20th century, James Hardie was also involved in manufacturing and selling asbestos-related products. Many of these products are alleged to have caused asbestosis in a number of people and the company is accused of not handling their liabilities to these victims properly. The case is being brought by the Australian Securities and Investments Corporation (ASIC) which contends that the restructuring of the company, including the decision to relocate its headquarters to the Netherlands, was misleading and intended to avoid its compensation liabilities to victims of asbestosis. The case is taking place at the NSW Supreme Court and is attracting much media attention in Australia. The large courtroom has been fitted with 62 screens and real-time connections to deal with the large number of lawyers working on behalf of the 10 former company directors and executives. Merrill in NSW is providing a real-time transcription service to the Judge and lawyers via an in-court wireless network set up by Merrill, which will supply an immediate transcript of the evidence to the laptops provided. This evidence can be analysed and annotated by the legal teams and the Judge using the real-time software which will assist them to keep track in such a large trial with so many witnesses and evidence. Vicky Ioannides, Business Director, said: “This is a major project and we have installed state of the art hardware and software in court as well as giving real-time training to participants. We will also be on hand throughout the trial (currently scheduled to last nine months) to provide ongoing technical support and advice, which is all part of the high quality Merrill real-time transcription service.”