Something to Think About

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Jurors today, yes even small town jurors, get their information from 30 second soundbites and graphics on the evening news and use the Internet on a regular basis. So why shouldn't you educate them in the visual format they are used to?

Winning a trial is not easy. It isn't simply a matter of how good your case is. It is crucial to ask the questions:

 

The fact is, most jurors don't want to be there.

The fact is, jurors are often thinking more about the errands they need to run than about the witness you are questioning. How can you get their attention? How can you make an impression so that they will remember what you have said? How will you get them to focus on the points you want them to focus on? It is difficult to accomplish these goals with oration and a chalkboard alone. Courtroom technology and graphics are not about impressing the jury and they don't make you look too "flashy." Our experence has shown us that jurors WANT something to look at, something to get their attention.

Technology and graphic trial exhibits in the courtroom are about simplifying a case down to succinctly tell your story. Live interactive screens of your documents with live call outs and instant hilighting as you speak keeps the jury focused and interested and looking at what you want them to see. Calling out an exhibit number and page brings it up in seconds instead of waiting for the witness or legal assistant to thumb through a notebook. With each and every exhibit on screen, the jurors can see for themselves what you are talking about instead of listening to the witness tell them what is on the page. Large printed foam board exhbits are great but are often still too small for some jurors to read. Foam board exhbits can't approach the size of a 9 foot screen! Digitize your video depositions and play the scrolling transcipt below it. Not only is this technology more engaging than a simple video, you can make it more concise and effective by quickly creating your designations into video clips and running them as one seemless video!

It is well documented that a jury will retain only 20% of what you tell them, however they will retain 70% of what you tell them if you incorporate visual aids into your presentation. This figure is an average from a study done in 1992. Those figures will vary widely in accordance with what you are presenting. If your case is convoluted or difficult with lots of figures or tortuous facts their comprehension let alone their retention may be well below these numbers. Graphic exhibits can greatly enhance the most difficult concepts. Timelines, graphs, flow charts showing relationships all help jurors to grasp what you are talking about in a short period of time. Just as important, they force the juror to see what you want them to see instead of making up their own minds what to consider in an exhibit.

How is all of this done?

During the discovery phase (or even up to the week of the trial) we scan in your documents, video depositions, and other exhibits and load them on our laptops into our Trial Director Database.

Graphics or visual aids such as timelines, flow charts, graphs, medical exhibits and so forth are all created by computer after consultation and review with the attorney and made ready for oversize print, to put on screen, or in a PowerPoint slide show or all three.

Video depositions are digitized onto CD and synchronized with the deposition transcript. Lastly, we take your designations, often the night before they are to show and they are ready for continuous play, skipping all of the non-essential portions of the video.

Our Trial Consultant will work with you in the "war room" to get to know the case, familiarize him/herself with important exhibits, assist in putting together opening and closing statements, advise you as to how to most effectively use our equipment, create on the fly graphics and PowerPoint slide shows, and do a run through of your next day's presentation.

Our Trial Consultant will always be there in the courtroom to instantly bring up any exhibit you request and make sure every piece of equipment is running smoothly. The Consultant will set up a 3200 lumen projector that is bright enough to put your exhibits up across the courtroom without turning down the lights. The display will be 9 feet tall as well as monitors for the judge and attorneys. Speakers will be attached to the laptop for video play. An Elmo Visual Presenter is also available to use like an overhead projector. All of this will be tastefully laid out with black cloth and tables, dark colored tape to cover the cords all before you or anyone else gets into the courtroom.

Consider using computer graphics and technology for your next trial. You will be impressed with how smoothly it works and how much faster your presentation will go. You will love the flexibility this technolgy gives you to change what you want to highlight or bring out of a document as situations may change during the trial. Watch the jury sit up and pay attention each time you ask for a new exhibit and you will be sold on the effectiveness of this method.