How One Maritime Lawyer Uses the LIT SUITE To Win Big Cases Against Big Firms
When you talk to maritime lawyer Adam Davis, you immediately understand two things:
1. He does big cases.2. He does them fast.
Adam didn’t start his career in a law firm. He started at sea. After graduating from the Texas Maritime Academy, he worked as a tugboat pilot and dredge pilot, navigating real vessels with real crews long before navigating lawsuits. That background shaped everything that came next.
“I represent mariners who get hurt on the water; people who do the work I used to do.”
For nearly a decade, Adam practiced maritime law at one of the largest defense firms in New Orleans. Eventually, he launched his own firm, taking a leap of faith grounded in his deep experience and reputation. Today, his firm has grown to three lawyers, each with real-world maritime credentials. Michelle is a former chief engineer. Ryan is a former ship captain. Adam is a former pilot. Their motto might as well be: Mariners for Mariners. And they are constantly in litigation.
High-Stakes Litigation, Massive Document Dumps, No Time to Waste
Maritime cases don’t come small. Vessel sinkings, capsizings, and catastrophic injury cases generate:
• Dozens of depositions
• Thousands of pages of documents
• Complex timelines
• Expert-heavy testimony
• Massive video files
“It’s not like an 18-wheeler case where you might have a handful of witnesses,” Adam explains.
Every maritime casualty has a crew, a captain, operations personnel, corporate reps, and more. Adam needed tools that could keep up.
Discovering the LIT SUITE
Years ago, Adam almost bought TrialPad but got pulled away by the demands of practice. The timing wasn’t right.
Then came a recent case in Texas, a huge one, with extensive deposition videos and a looming trial date. A colleague, Matt Rogenes, used the LIT SUITE to help handle the deposition designations, and that changed everything.
“He was doing the deposition designations in TranscriptPad, and I said, ‘This is great.’ I went out and bought two iPads, one for me and one for Michelle.”
From that moment, he dove in headfirst. Hard. He started staying up late, watching LIT SOFTWARE’s how-to videos on YouTube, determined to master the apps.
“I wasn’t watching TV. I was watching TrialPad videos at 11 p.m. trying to figure out everything it could do.”
And soon, the LIT SUITE became core to his practice.
DocReviewPad: “A Game Changer for Breaking Down Huge PDFs”
Defense firms often produce 2,000-page PDFs. Adam’s firm needed to break them down, tag them, and prep them for depositions, and fast.
“DocReviewPad lets me break out massive PDFs, make notes, tag documents by witness, and have everything organized. It’s interactive, intuitive, and perfect for the way we litigate.”
He especially loves the deposition packet creation workflow, where witness-tagged documents automatically assemble into a deposition set ready for TrialPad.
“It was great. At my last big deposition, I had all my exhibits marked correctly and ready to go.”
TranscriptPad: “I’m Not Reviewing Depositions Any Other Way Ever Again”
If there is one tool that truly transformed Adam’s workflow, it’s TranscriptPad.
“I’m not reviewing depositions on anything else ever again. TranscriptPad is where all my depo work happens now.”
He uses:
• Issue tagging
• Color-coded categories for duty, breach, causation, and damages
• Flags for quick summaries
• TranscriptPad-synced video (which he initially doubted—but now swears by)
Most importantly, TranscriptPad replaced a workflow that used to waste hours:
“Before, I'd spend hours reviewing a deposition and have nothing to show for it. Then I'd have to go back later to find page and lines. With TranscriptPad, all the work product is built into the review.”
The summary report is his new go-to tool: “I printed a 10-page summary from a 400-page deposition, with issues and citations all laid out. It’s fantastic.”
Video Clips for Mediation and Depositions? He Does That Too.
This is where Adam’s eyes light up. He uses TranscriptPad not only to summarize testimony, but to clobber witnesses with their own words.
“If the captain says something in his depo, I go to his manager and play that clip. It’s very effective. It’s easy to object to a lawyer’s characterization of testimony—but you can’t object to video.”
He also uses clips in mediation to collapse hours of testimony into targeted “zingers.”
“It’s like taking seven hours and turning it into two minutes of the best stuff.”
With TranscriptPad, he makes clips himself—no need for expensive third-party syncing services or endless back-and-forth instructions.
“TranscriptPad saves time, money, and miscommunication. I can get the clip I need, right when I need it.”
TrialPad: “Badass.”
That’s Adam’s review. One word.
“TrialPad is badass. And simple. Six buttons. That’s what I love. It’s powerful but not overcomplicated.”
He uses TrialPad for:
• Depositions
• Mediation presentations
• On-the-fly document callouts
• Exhibit marking
• Video playback
And Adam, who battles the biggest maritime firms in Louisiana and Texas, loves that TrialPad gives him an edge:
“The big defense firms have huge teams compared to our boutique firm. But with these tools, we stay agile, fast, and more organized than they are.”
TimelinePad: “Once I Use the Excel Template, I’m In.”
Adam hasn’t fully deployed TimelinePad yet, mostly because he was entering chronology items by hand. Once he learned about the Excel import template, everything clicked. He has a big chronology-heavy case coming up and plans to build the entire timeline in TimelinePad based on the imported events.
A Firm Built on Agility—and the LIT SUITE Helps Make It Possible
Adam’s firm is growing. The cases are growing. The stakes are high.
But the LIT SUITE has become part of his internal procedures:
• Every deposition is reviewed in TranscriptPad
• Every document batch is processed in DocReviewPad
• Every major presentation or deposition uses TrialPad
• He plans to use TimelinePad for major events chronologies
“These tools make us more efficient, more accurate, and more prepared. They help us beat bigger firms with bigger teams.”
That’s exactly what the LIT SUITE was built for.
More About Adam Davis, Esq.:
Firm website: www.adamdavislawfirm.com
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/adamndavis
