Graham Smith-Bernal

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Graham Smith-Bernal
Born (1958-01-17) January 17, 1958 (age 67)
England
Known forLegal software
Notable workLiveNote, Opus 2 Magnum
Children3
AwardsThe Queen's Award for Enterprise

Graham Smith-Bernal (born 17 January 1958) is a British innovator and entrepreneur. His companies, Smith-Bernal International and Opus 2 International, created technologies which facilitated virtual and hybrid court, arbitral and public enquiry hearings and led to paperless trials throughout multiple global jurisdictions. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

Early life

Smith-Bernal grew up and went to school in Slough, Berkshire. He left school with a single ‘O’ level. [4] After business college he joined the UK’s first stenography course becoming, while still a teenager, one of the UK’s first qualified court stenographers. [5] His first job was as an official court reporter in London Crown Courts, High Courts and arbitrations. [1] [2]

Career

In 1990, Smith-Bernal devised the interactive real-time transcription and evidence management system, LiveNote. [3] [6] In 2011, he created the cloud-based collaborative software platform, Opus 2 Magnum for managing evidence in major disputes and inquiries. [7] [5]

Previously, in 1981, Smith-Bernal set up his first business, Smith-Bernal International (SBI), specialising in providing verbatim reporting services in litigation, arbitration and public inquiry hearings. [8] A year later SBI was appointed as Official Court Reporter to the 11 Crown Courts at Knightsbridge and subsequently to a further 70 courts in 8 UK cities. [9] SBI pioneered the introduction of computer-aided transcription and a digital transcript management software. Each sped up transcriptions and provided lawyers with digital transcripts. [5]

In 1990 SBI’s new software division created the world’s first Windows based real-time interactive software transcription programme, LiveNote. This enabled lawyers to annotate and search live real-time transcript testimony, reducing manual note taking performed by judges and lawyers in complex hearings. [1] [5] [4] Its creation saw SBI appointed to hearings including BCCI and Lloyds of London disputes. [5] [9] The technology was used by the defence team on the OJ Simpson trial in Los Angeles in 1995 and in Lord Saville’s Bloody Sunday Inquiry established in 1998 by British Prime Minister, Tony Blair. [4] [10] After selling SBI in 1997, Smith-Bernal retained the US software business and saw LiveNote become a standard for managing deposition hearings, with more than 80% of the top 100 US law firms signed up on enterprise licenses. [2] In 2006, LiveNote was sold to Thomson Reuters for an undisclosed sum. [11]

In 2011 Smith-Bernal set up Opus 2 International to develop the company’s Magnum software. This facilitated seamless collaboration between remote and in-court teams of lawyers and their clients across all case materials, transcripts and documents as well as synchronised audio and video. It was first used in the Berezovsky v Abramovich trial in London in 2012, where it saved more than 5 million pieces of hard copy paper. [3] [12] [13] In 2018, for his work with Opus 2 and Magnum, Smith-Bernal received the Queen’s Award for Enterprise for Innovation. [14]

Following the sale of Opus 2 in 2017, [11] Smith-Bernal bought Newsells Park Stud - a commercial stud farm in North Hertfordshire breeding classic and Group One racehorses. [15] [16]

Personal

Smith-Bernal is married with three children. [2]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Features, James McKeigue published in (2013-07-10). "How Graham Smith-Bernal revolutionised court reporting". moneyweekuk. Retrieved 2025-03-18.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Loizou, Kiki (2012-10-14). "How I Made It: Graham Smith Bernal, of Opus 2 International". www.thetimes.com. Retrieved 2025-03-18.
  3. 1 2 3 Brinded, Lianna. "Meet the British inventor who transformed the legal industry with a couple of pieces of software". Business Insider. Retrieved 2025-03-18.
  4. 1 2 3 Asome, Carolyn (2023-11-04). "Graham Smith-Bernal's vision for one of Europe's top stud estates". www.thetimes.com. Retrieved 2025-03-18.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Fresco, Adam (2007-05-08). "Could you repeat that M'Lud?". www.thetimes.com. Retrieved 2025-03-18.
  6. ↑ "LiveNote plays big role in court". South China Morning Post. 1995-05-16. Retrieved 2025-03-18.
  7. ↑ Hainey, Raymond (September 4, 1996). "Supreme Court enters computer age for trial". The Royal Gazette.
  8. ↑ Thomas, James (2021-06-21). "Tech entrepreneur Graham Smith-Bernal reveals purchase of Newsells Park Stud". www.racingpost.com. Retrieved 2025-03-18.
  9. 1 2 Burgess, Patrick (June 12, 1999). "Court reporting system can be low tech". The Royal Gazette.
  10. ↑ "Bloody Sunday inquiry to use virtual reality technology". The Law Society Gazette. August 4, 2000.
  11. 1 2 Duke, Simon (2017-08-12). "Third bonanza for court stenographer". www.thetimes.com. Retrieved 2025-03-18.
  12. ↑ Beavis, Lynn (2014-05-15). "Opus's Magnum reduces legal paperwork by using the cloud". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2025-03-18.
  13. ↑ "The In-House Lawyer | Revolutionising dispute resolution". The In-House Lawyer | The Legal 500. Retrieved 2025-03-18.
  14. ↑ SurreyLieutenancy (2018-08-11). "Opus2 International, receive the Queen's Award for Enterprise for Innovation". Surrey Lieutenancy. Retrieved 2025-03-18.
  15. ↑ TDN, The (2021-06-20). "Newsells Park Stud Sold To Smith-Bernal". TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. Retrieved 2025-03-18.
  16. ↑ "Graham Smith-Bernal: 'I want to have fun at Newsells'". The Owner Breeder. Retrieved 2025-03-18.
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