5 Top Litigation Consulting Report Articles from Q1

By: Kenneth J. Lopez, J.D. Tue, May 8, 2012 @ 12:06 PM

Trial Technicians, Litigation Graphics, Jury Consulting, Litigation Consulting, Trial Consulting, Demonstrative Evidence, Hot Seat Operators, Articles, Information Design

A2L Litigation Consulting Report top 5 articles q1 2012 After a year of providing expert commentary on trials, litigation graphics, jury research, courtroom hot seat best practices and similar topics, I think it’s time to take stock.

In the past year, the A2L Consulting blog, The Litigation Consulting Report, has gone from zero subscribers to nearly one thousand. There have been more than two thousand downloads from our popular litigation e-book series. We have given away four iPads, a prize we give each quarter to one randomly chosen subscriber. And more than anything else, I am very excited that there have been more than 20,000 visits to our litigation-focused blog, making it one of the most popular litigation blogs.

Below are snippets of the most read articles in our blog for the first quarter of 2012 and the most read articles from the past year.

Top 5 Articles from The Litigation Consulting Report - First Quarter 2012

Lists of Analogies, Metaphors and Idioms for Lawyers

Friday, Mar 16, 2012 Ken Lopez

The task of a trial lawyer is to convince a judge or jury to believe in the truth of a client’s case. However, in many complex trials, the underlying facts are not as easily understood by the fact-finder as they would be in, say, a murder case or a traffic accident. A case, especially the type of litigation that we are involved in, often turns on complex issues of science , ...Read More

10 Videos to Help Litigators Become Better at Storytelling

Monday, Feb 27, 2012 Ken Lopez

In the courtroom, the attorney who has the best chance of winning a case is generally the one who is the best storyteller. The trial lawyer who makes the audience care, who is believable, who most clearly explains the case, who develops compelling narrative and who communicates the facts in the most memorable way builds trust and credibility. If you follow some basic storytelling and speech...Read More

Making Good Use of Trial Director & Demonstratives in an Arbitration

Thursday, Jan 5, 2012 Ken Lopez

TrialDirector, a trial presentation software package produced by InData, is an indispensable aid to the presentation of electronic and other evidence at trial. There is a reason why this product has claimed the majority of the market share for trial presentation software for more than 10 years: It can actually make it interesting for a jury or other fact-finder to listen to a witness testify...Read More

3D Printing to Change Courtroom Demonstrative Evidence

Tuesday, Jan 17, 2012 Ken Lopez

At first it sounds like something out of science fiction, but 3D printing has arrived – and it can be very helpful to the litigator and litigation consultant . In 3D printing, which was invented in 2003, the user either electronically sculpts or scans nearly any object into the printer, using a computer-assisted design (CAD) program to tinker with the color and shape of the...Read More

5 Inspiring Information Design/Data Visualization Sites for Lawyers

Friday, Mar 23, 2012 Ken Lopez

When a litigator engages a trial graphics consultant , he or she will most likely be getting more than anticipated - an expert in information design. Information design , a field that is less than 50 years old, has been defined as a process that is “concerned with transforming data into information, making the complex easier to understand and to use. It is a rapidly...Read More

Top 5 Articles from The Litigation Consulting Report - Past Year

Information Design and Litigation Graphics

Monday, Feb 21, 2011 Ken Lopez

The term information design is less than fifty years old. The use of specialty trial graphics in the courtroom started less than thirty years ago. Only very recently have the terms been used in the same sentence. That is, only recently have individual practitioners of both arts emerged. Wikipedia describes information design as "the skill and practice of preparing information so...Read More

Top 5 Trial Timeline Tips

Wednesday, Sep 7, 2011 Ken Lopez

Although trial consultants prepare dozens of different types of exhibits that help judges and jurors understand a case, timelines are one of the oldest and most reliable. After all, most cases involve some sort of time sequence, and the order and timing of events can be crucial. Timelines give jurors an intuitive understanding of a case – if they are done well. While it seems simple...Read More

Beyond PowerPoint: Trial Presentations with Prezi and Keynote

Friday, Aug 12, 2011 Ken Lopez

No trial presentation exhibit specialist can perform any better than his or her tools. Although the judge and jury aren’t usually aware of what software the trial consultant is using, the choice of presentation software is essential to the success of the consultant, and ultimately to the success of the case. Over the last decade, presenting demonstrative evidence has usually meant...Read More

Trial Graphics, Color Choice and Culture

Monday, Feb 7, 2011 Ken Lopez

Below is an article authored by a Senior Litigation Graphics Consultant at A2L Consulting. It is set for publication in PLI's Trial by Jury book. I think it does a great job of introducing the challenge of balancing color choice and culture in trial graphics . ******** Color Choice, Culture and Demonstrative Evidenc e -Theresa D’Amico Villanueva, Esq. About the...Read More

10 Web Videos Our Jury Consultants Say All Litigators Must See

Tuesday, Nov 15, 2011 Ken Lopez

As litigation consultants, jury consultants, trial technology consultants and litigation graphics consultants, we have the opportunity to share our decades of experience in over 10,000 cases, working with litigators from all major law firms, with our litigation clients every day. Clearly, this is a valuable service, and I believe great litigators become better litigators for having worked with...Read More

Of course, not everyone interacts with our firm via our blog. Some like to follow us on A2L's YouTube channel, where one video about Hydraulic Fracturing (Fracking) has more than 13,000 views. Some follow us on A2L's Facebook page and many follow us on A2L's Twitter feed. Our newest web presence is on Pinterest, a site that lends itself well to the visual side of our business.

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About Kenneth J. Lopez, J.D.

While attending the Delaware Law School in the early 1990s, Ken taught himself computer animation as a hobby. That hobby, combined with his law degree and a degree in economics from the University of Mary Washington, helped launch his career in litigation consulting.

In 1995, he founded his first company, A2L Consulting, where he served as its President/CEO for nearly 25 years. A2L provided litigation support services to all of the nation’s top law firms and their clients around the world. Often called upon when the dollars at stake are high, A2L’s services included helping to predict how judges and juries will react to a case (i.e., jury consulting and mock trials), the creation of sophisticated visual evidence used to persuade judges and juries (i.e., litigation graphics and 3D animation), and the deployment and use of state-of-the-art technology in the courtroom (i.e., hotseaters and trial technicians).

Ken launched LawProspecter in 2007, a first-of-its-kind software company that provided information about litigation and who was involved in it. In 2020, Ken launched OurHistoryMuseum, a crowdsourced history museum, which he continues to run.

Bestselling business author Dan Pink highlighted A2L in his book, A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future, and Ken has been quoted by many news outlets including the Wall Street Journal, Inc., NBC News, Wired, the Washington Post, and the BBC.

Recently, the readers of LegalTimes voted A2L “best jury consultants” and “best trial consultants,” and readers of the National Law Journal voted A2L “Best Demonstrative Evidence provider” in the country. Many other publications have held similar votes and ranked A2L at the top of a key category. The American Bar Association named A2L’s blog, where Ken and his colleagues publish weekly, one of the top 100 blogs in the legal industry and one of the top 10 litigation blogs.

In 2013, Virginia’s Governor appointed Ken to a four-year term on the University of Mary Washington’s Board of Visitors. He has also served on the Dean’s National Advisory Board of Delaware Law School and various local and business boards and advisory groups.

In 2023 Ken launched Persuadius, a litigation consulting company that has picked up where A2L left off.

Despite an interesting and varied career, Ken still lists his top passion and proudest accomplishment as “father of triplet girls born in 2008.”

You can reach Ken Lopez at ken@persuadius.com or 800.847.9330

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