Daviot Kelly, Staff ReporterTHE DREAM of young lawyer Deidre Powell became a reality on Friday night as her legal research website, Pcamonline, was launched at the Pegasus Hotel.
The website is the first of its kind in the Caribbean. At the outset it will give legal practitioners, insurance companies, claims consultants and other groups the resources to search for cases containing assessments of damages for personal injuries and fatal accident awards. This comes from Ms. Powell's experience in cases of this nature. But plans are underway to increase the material the site offers.
Members of the legal fraternity and others from the insurance sector came to get a first-hand look at how the website works. If you ever heard the cliché, "information at your fingertips" then this is it. Justice Minister A.J. Nicholson was one of the first to log on. Powell, assisted by Nicholas Barnaby of StoneSage Ltd. who took the concept and gave it life, explained how the site worked. He demonstrated that with a few strokes of a keyboard, you could gather your information.
TIME FACTOR
Logging on to a website does significantly reduce the time that would be otherwise spent in a library, searching through countless books and case files.
"With Pcamonline, at the click of a mouse, the research is done for you within seconds. You will have a complete list of cases on which you can rely, with all the work done for you," she explained. Cases will be updated every month as well as the current value of awards, Ms. Powell added.
"It is the goal of PCaM Ltd. that with this tool we will see a reduction in the number of matters brought before the courts. Imagine the day when you will be able to start and complete negotiating a claim in a day. The result is the lowering of costs to all concerned. Our most significant and treasured commodity will be saved - time," she added.
The site is also e-commerce capable, so users can log on from anywhere in the world and would only need their password, user name and transaction code. Ms. Powell presented a few individuals, including Minister Nicholson and Chief Justice Lensley Wolfe, with one year's free subscription.
