Optimizing the Digital Trial Notebook: Leveraging Dropbox, Word, and Excel for Efficiency (2025 Edition)

Kathleen Brown | Charleston School of Law

Kathleen (Katie) Brown is the Associate Dean for Information Resources at Charleston School of Law and a 2024 vLex Fastcase 50 honoree, recognized for her contributions to integrating technology and ethics into legal education. She is also the recipient of the 2024 AALS Section of Technology, Law & Legal Education Technology & Ethics Award, honoring her significant impact in this field.

Brown holds a J.D. from Seattle University School of Law with an emphasis in intellectual property law, an M.S. in Library and Information Science from Drexel University, and a B.F.A. from DePaul University. She often presents on the topics of intellectual property, legal technology, and the business of law, with a focus on process optimization and legal research.

She has also taught courses on Legal Technology for Practice, Art of Advocacy, Contracts, and Advanced Legal Research. An active member of the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL), Brown has held numerous leadership positions within the organization, including serving on the AALL Executive Board from 2011 to 2014.

Some of her research interests include intellectual property, acting skills for lawyers, law and literature, and legal tech management.

I. Building Your Digital Foundation | 1:00pm – 2:00pm

• Discover how to create a robust digital trial notebook framework
• Structuring case files efficiently within Dropbox
• Crafting customized templates in Word for various trial documents
• Utilizing Excel for meticulous case detail tracking and analysis

Break | 2:00pm – 2:10pm

II. Advanced Techniques and Courtroom Application | 2:10pm – 3:10pm

• Explore sophisticated features that enhance your trial preparation
• Implementing real-time collaboration tools for seamless teamwork
• Enhancing document security to safeguard sensitive case information