Loyola Law School has just completed construction on a $10,000,000 building designed by world-renowned architect, Frank O. Gehry. The building itself reflects Gehry's innovative style, mixing the warmth of red clay with the coolness of glass and metal. A three-story glass silo attachment to the building allows students to walk on transparent glass panel floors and look down at the ground below.

Technology in the courtroom is becoming the standard for legal proceedings and Loyola's new Albert H. Girardi Advocacy Center is a prime example of how law schools are preparing their students for the future of litigation. Hoffman Video Systems, a Los Angeles based A/V systems integration company, designed, built and installed $1,300,000 of the most technologically advanced multi-media equipment available on the market today. Cameras, televisions, computers, lighting and sound are all integral features of the courtroom, jury room and classrooms, but these high-tech multimedia devices need something to tie them all together and automate their control. Multimedia automated control system maker AMX products are featured prominently throughout the advocacy center.

Two Trial Advocacy Classrooms were designed to simulate modern courtrooms, each with a judges' bench seating up to three judges, counsel tables, a jury box, witness stand and a gallery. With the technology of an AMX 10.5" wired control touch panel, the judges have the ability to direct and communicate with the parties involved. One of the programming obstacles that AMX had to overcome was to enable the judge to view items on a touch panel that are of a sensitive nature without allowing the jury to see the information until it has been deemed admissible. Jurors no longer have to struggle to view data and evidence. Each juror has in front of him, within the Jury Box, a Sony 15" LCD panel. A portable NEC 50" plasma screen with a Smart touch screen overlay, two ceiling-mounted Sharp XG-V10WU data projectors and two rear projection screens are utilized for audience and counsel display. Hoffman chose the Sharp projectors because they were the perfect fit for Loyola's budget and specification requirements. The movable lectern, for use by either counsel or instructor, is equipped with a touch-sensitive 15" LCD panel, a networked PC with keyboard and mouse and a fixed gooseneck microphone minimizing, if not eliminating, the need for trips back and forth to the Counsel Table. All of this high-tech AV equipment enables each participant and observer of the mock trials or lectures to view data simultaneously and instantly.

The Jury Room accommodates twelve individuals at a fixed conference table. Hoffman installed computer and video display in single image format with one wall mount NEC 50" plasma and a Smart touch screen overlay giving the jurors the ability to make notations directly onto the screen while they are deliberating. The jury is able to view evidence and transcripts with ease and clarity by using the A/V equipment in the Jury Room. The room has dual functionality and can also be used as a conference room.

There are five Interview Rooms with flexible configurations. Ethical Lawyering and negotiation configurations seat up to four individuals at a conference table. Hoffman equipped the fifth Interview Room for small group videoconferencing and teleconferencing with Polycom and Gentner systems allowing students to interact with law firms in other cities. An NEC 42" Plasma affords easy viewing. The room can also function as a production studio for faculty wishing to create instructional materials. This technology brings the real world into the classroom situation optimizing the educational environment for the law students and creating an interactive learning situation.

The Ethical Lawyering Classroom accommodates 32 students in a classroom configuration with fixed desks. The room has two ceiling-mount Sharp XG-V10WU projectors that project onto two wall-mounted Smart Boards allowing the instructor to focus on specific parts of a document on a large screen display device. The instructor's workstation has the capability for audio reproduction and remote control of video cameras.

Hoffman designed the Control Room to be managed by one or two individuals; however, there is enough room for four if needed. A joystick on the console operates the remote camera control for all classrooms. The operator has a master recording system, production switcher and a 32 input mixing board connected to all the microphones as well as a master intercom system. The chief mode of communication between the various multimedia devices is through the AMX NetLinx TM system. NetLinx TM was used to network all of the AMX Touch Panels and multimedia systems throughout the building, including the audio/visual elements and the Control Room, which features recording capabilities. Using NetLinxTM and a touch panel, all of the multimedia elements can be controlled at the touch panel interface level, including audio/video feeds, lighting and room temperature control. Because NetLinxTM was created to "sit" on the network, when there are changes that need to be made to the system or any debugging that must be done, those items can be accomplished remotely by Loyola Law School's IS department or even by AMX programmers, if necessary. The system is designed so that even the color of a touch panel screen button can be changed without the need to have someone come on-site to make that change. Mock trial proceedings, mediations and negotiations, and classroom lectures can be recorded for further study and dissection at a later date. Additionally, video and audio feeds can be streamed over the internet for distance learning.

"Hoffman was able to work within a budget to create a system that is functional, completely expandable and meets Loyola's current needs." Said Rob Shepherd, President of Hoffman Video Systems. "This state-of-the-art technology includes streaming video, distance learning, digital storage and internet distribution."

Many courtrooms around the country are being retrofitted to accommodate the technology of modern litigation, and new ones are being built to high-tech standards. According to Professor Karl Manheim, a faculty member who worked with Hoffman in designing the new A/V system, "the courtroom of the 21st century is an electronic one. Digital evidence, remote witnesses, and sophisticated document management systems are becoming commonplace. This presents new design and engineering challenges. Judges will need the ability to control audio and video routing, while facilitating the sharing of data and evidence among attorneys, witnesses and jurors." The face of the courtroom is changing and Loyola Law School is at the center of this change with the innovative technology and design of the Albert H. Girardi Advocacy Center.

The Girardi Center was recently featured in the Los Angeles Times and Building Connections Magazine. The Times noted that the innovative audio/visual systems in the Girardi Center are "already turning heads." And Lawrence Rose, Executive Director of the National Institute for Trial Advocacy, noted at the Center's dedication ceremony that, "There is lots of technology, computer graphics, hardware and software… To see schools like Loyola produce centers like this, frankly, is very progressive, and very enlightening."