THIS IS USEFUL FOR TRIAL LAWYERS IN ALL JURISDICTIONS.
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Instead, trial counsel should consider the manner in which a graphic will ultimately be used at trial at the same time that the graphics are developed. Trial graphics are typically presented through three types of persons: lay witnesses that have personal knowledge of the key facts of the case, expert witnesses to discuss technical issues or industry practices and the trial lawyer himself in opening statements and closing arguments. Trial counsel must be careful to select the most convincing witness to present the most crucial graphics and ensure that each witness is adequately prepared to interact with the appropriate graphics. This is particularly true, and often , when presenting lay witnesses. But whether lay or expert, the most effective presentation of graphics involves continual interaction between the graphics and the witnesses before the jury.
After identifying the “voice” for the graphics, the trial lawyer must decide what medium to use. Years ago, before the information and internet age and nightly news bombarded the public with charts and animation, trial lawyers were concerned that jurors either were not sufficiently attuned to such presentations or would fault the side presenting “flashy” graphics as oversimplifying (and hence “talking down” to them) or appearing to “over-lawyer” the case. While such concerns may still persist in certain jury pools, most trial lawyers understand now that today’s jurors all but expect (and appreciate) such displays if they help the jurors understand complex facts or synthesize key trial themes.
There is certainly still room for a simple blow-up, and even trial counsel writing out key facts on a flip chart can be persuasive. And the economic realities of smaller cases with limited adverse exposure may well militate in favor of simpler graphics. But particularly where complex facts may be lost during a month-long trial, animated graphics often help keep the jury’s focus. Some of the most effective graphics are displayed to the jury by video in a “build” fashion in which new screens of a graphic are presented sequentially as the witness testifies. This allows the jury to accept the ultimate conclusion as its own. This is the ultimate success of persuasion; When the jury is trying to anticipate what screen comes next based on what preceded it, the jury is necessarily paying attention and coming to the conclusion itself, which is always more powerful than simply being told what to conclude from the evidence.
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