Trial Exhibit Manager

Trial Exhibit Manager

by the Rollins and Chan Law Firm, Washington, DC

Trial Exhibit Manager is free trial-presentation software built by a trial lawyer for trial lawyers. It combines exhibit list building, real-time status tracking, and instant courtroom search in a single application, and it replaces our earlier Exhibit Finder. It was developed and battle-tested during a federal criminal trial involving more than one thousand government exhibits.

Your case data never leaves your computer. The software has no internet connection, no account, and no cloud component. Exhibit files and case data stay on your machine, which is how it should be for privileged trial material.

What it does

  • Build the list fast. Drag files or entire folders onto the window. Exhibit numbers are read from filenames or assigned automatically. Import an existing Excel or CSV exhibit list at any time.
  • Track both sides. Every exhibit belongs to a party: Government, Defense, or Joint. When the other side’s exhibit is a document you also intend to use, right-click it and create your own exhibit with your own number. Same file, cross-referenced in both directions, so searching either number finds both.
  • Track status in real time. Click the checkbox when an exhibit is admitted. Right-click for Offered, Withdrawn, or Objection Pending. Rows are color coded and every change saves automatically.
  • Find anything instantly. Type an exhibit number, a witness name, a description word, or words from inside a PDF, Word, or Excel exhibit. Filter to one side, one status, or missing files with one click. Tested with 1,200 exhibits; searches return instantly.
  • Open for the courtroom. Double-click any exhibit. Documents and photos open ready for the projector; audio and video open in your media player. A preview panel shows each exhibit before you display it.
  • Export for the court. Produce a clean exhibit list in Excel or CSV for either side or both, with status included.

Download

⬇ Download Trial Exhibit Manager v1.0 — Windows

No installation required. Download, double-click, and it runs. Windows 10 or 11 only for now; Mac users, email me if there is interest.

A note on the Windows warning

The first time you open the program, Windows may show a blue screen that says “Windows protected your PC” and lists the publisher as unknown. This is normal and expected. Windows shows that message for any program that has not been signed with a paid publisher certificate, which includes most free software written by small firms and solo developers. It is not a warning that anything is wrong with the file.

To open the program: click More info, then click Run anyway. You only have to do this once. Windows remembers the file after that.

Getting started

  1. Click New Case and choose how to start: import an existing exhibit list, add a folder of exhibit files, add individual files, or begin empty. You can also drag files or folders onto the window at any time.
  2. When adding exhibits, tell the program whose they are: Government, Defense, or Joint. It can also detect the party from GX and DX prefixes in the filenames.
  3. Type in the search box to find an exhibit. Search “gx 212” for the government’s exhibit, “dx 5” for yours, or any word from a description, witness name, or document.
  4. Click the checkbox in the Admitted column when an exhibit comes in. Right-click for other statuses, to edit details, or to create your own exhibit from the other side’s document.
  5. Click Save Case once. From then on, every change saves automatically. On trial morning, click Open Case and you are searching in seconds.

Exhibit file naming

Every exhibit file should contain its exhibit number in the filename. All of the following work for exhibit 12: “Exhibit 12 – Plea Agreement.pdf”, “DX-012.mp4”, “Ex 12 – Jail Call.wav”, and “12A.docx”. Files without a recognizable number are assigned the next available number automatically.

System requirements

Windows 10 or 11. No installation required. The software is provided free of charge, as-is and without warranty; nothing about it is legal advice, and using it does not create an attorney-client relationship with the Rollins and Chan Law Firm.

Questions and suggestions from fellow attorneys are welcome: Mark Rollins, mark@rollinsandchan.com or 202-455-5610.