In 2001, Santa Ana-based Callahan & Blaine was representing Fullerton-based Beckman Coulter Inc. in a suit against Singapore’s Flextronics International Ltd.
Contract electronics maker Flextronics International Inc. threatened to break a $2.2 million, five-year contract to make circuit boards for a Beckman blood analyzer.
Yousef and Kaz Alinaghian, founders of Computer Research Center, were hired by Callahan & Blaine to digitally image and code more than 60,000 pages of documents as well as create charts, graphs and animated evidence.
They also recorded and edited hours of video depositions for the case.
That’s when it hit the brothers: create a digital device that could take video and audio depositions, case documents and transcripts, and combine all the information into one CD or DVD.
Callahan & Blaine then could play sections of their video depositions through key word searches that matched the documents.
The trial ended with a jury awarding Beckman $934 million. Flextronics appealed. In 2003, the companies reached a $23 million settlement.
The case spurred business for Computer Research. The company found itself running short on space at its 2,000-square-foot office in Irvine. In 2003, Computer Research moved to a 6,000-square-foot building in Lake Forest.
That’s when Info Beyond was born. Info Beyond is a unit of Computer Research Center, which now focuses on general computer services such as networking, installation, e-commerce, custom software, computer maintenance, Web hosting and e-mail.
Info Beyond handles a variety of services for law firms’ courtroom presentations, including video depositions, document scanning and coding, evidence synchronization, computer-animated graphics, slides, boards and electronic filing.
It’s one of several tech support companies serving law firms.
The company’s trial director synchronization software can take video and audio depositions, transcripts and other documents, and combine it all into one video CD. The video conversion software takes audio and video, and combines into one video CD/DVD.
The trial director software scans documents and transcripts into a CD/DVD. Info Beyond also sells equipment to law firms so they can make their own multimedia presentations.
“We understand law firms because we’ve been servicing them for many years through Computer Research Center,” said Info Beyond Chief Financial Officer Dan Wampole. “Because we learned how they work from the inside, we got to see how courtroom technology can be adapted to any law firm.”
In 2004, Info Beyond landed 50 clients and nearly doubled its work in 2005 to 90.
The company declined to disclose revenue. Wampole said sales doubled in 2006.
Info Beyond counts 11 full-time workers. It uses several hundred contract workers through Legal Network in Irvine.
Client Niche
The company’s found a niche with boutique law firms, since many don’t own their own tech equipment. It also sees work from small firms and some large ones.
Cost depends on the project and number of workers needed.
Document imaging and coding can run anywhere from $65 to $150 an hour while installing technical equipment at a firm can cost up to $150,000.
Info Beyond often works with scientists and other experts when creating computer-animation, charts and graphs for evidence.
For trials, the company sets up and operates equipment,if a judge permits,in the courtroom, including multiple projection screens, monitors and sound.
Info Beyond also can record courtroom presentations and broadcast them over the Internet so a firm can watch the trial from any location.
“Essentially, we’re trying to make everything computer-based so that attorneys don’t have to carry 40 boxes of paper to a courtroom presentation,” said Kaz Alinaghian, Info Beyond’s chief technology officer.
The company’s background at Computer Research Center gives Info Beyond an edge over court reporting companies that offer somewhat similar services, according to the Alinaghians.
“You can have all the equipment and software you want but it takes a company that knows how to use everything and one that can fix a technical problem quickly in order to do a good job,” Kaz Alinaghian said.
Juries love visuals.
Visual evidence is six times more likely to be retained by a jury, according to the Federal Judicial Center.
Equipment such as digital monitors, projectors, and video and audio devices are said to cut trial time by about 30% or more.
Yousef and Kaz Alinaghian emigrated from Iran in 1969.
After the brothers earned their bachelor’s and master’s degrees in engineering from California State University, Fullerton, they spent $100,000 on computers to start what then was Computer Consulting Center in Irvine in 1983.
The company later became Computer Research Center in 1985.
Computer Research Center began by offering word processing for Orange County companies and law firms.
In the 1990s, the Alinaghians spent $1 million on equipment and software so they could offer networking and Internet services.
The company also started recording and editing video depositions for law firms. That led to other services such as digital slide shows, document scanning and electronic filing, especially as laptops became a big part of courtroom presentations.
“As technology progressed, we offered networking and we started hooking everyone together,” said Yousef Alinaghian, president of Info Beyond. “When the Internet arrived, that’s when technology really took off and attorneys said they wanted to be able to use computers to show documents on [projection] screens because they could do it faster.”
Info Beyond’s biggest challenge: keeping up with changing technology. The Alinaghians said they’re always buying equipment and upgrading software.
