At A2L Consulting, we believe that the difference between a good result at trial and a great result can lie in the performance of the trial technician.
By Ryan H. Flax (Former) Managing Director, Litigation Consulting A2L Consulting
by Theresa Villanueva, Esq. Director, Litigation Consulting A2L Consulting
Sales and marketing experts know that the sales process includes a multitude of stages – steps that a purchaser normally experiences before making a decision to buy. As our trial consultants see it, litigators also need to “sell” the judge or jury on the correctness of their client’s position. Therefore, it stands to reason that trial lawyers can learn a good deal from salespeople.
Please see an updated 2014 version of this article here: http://www.a2lc.com/blog/bid/72290/Planning-For-Courtroom-Persuasion-Use-a-Two-Track-Trial-Strategy By Ryan H. Flax (Former) Litigation Consultant What I’m about to encourage will seem elementary to the best litigators, but I’m writing from experience as a litigation consultant and a litigator when I say that many trial attorneys fail to properly develop the necessary two-track strategy for their case -- and lose because of it.
For any trial lawyer, writing an opening or closing statement is one of the best parts of a trial. It lets us use our writing skills, speaking skills, and persuasion skills like no other moment of trial. I happen to believe that the opening statement is the single most important part of a trial.
Forty-five states may have mandatory continuing legal education (CLE) requirements for attorneys – but all litigators and litigation support staff, wherever they are located, have a duty to stay informed and maintain their skills. Whether you are a first chair litigator or a litigation paralegal, given the pace of change in trial technology and trial strategy, it can be a challenge just to keep up with the latest trends.
Usually, the vast majority of the time that a litigation consultant will spend with a trial team focuses on jury selection, mock trials, witness preparation, opening statement and expert testimony. A litigation consultant will usually spend less than ten percent of his or her time in supporting a trial team in its development of the closing argument. This is very curious, because closing arguments are a critical part of any trial. They are the last words jurors will hear out of your mouth, and they are the punctuation mark on your case and the story you have developed.
Ryan H. Flax, (Former) Managing Director, Litigation Consulting
Bullet points, especially when they’re found in PowerPoint slides, have become the cliché of the trial graphics and presentation worlds. There’s no good reason to use them, and plenty of reasons not to. For many, bullet points signal a boring presentation is about to begin or one is about to hear a presenter who, like someone on a vintage cell phone, is detached from modern presentation style. Bullets are not just aesthetically bothersome. The A2L Consulting trial graphics team, trained in cutting-edge theories of conveying information, believes that text-heavy presentations riddled with bullet points also do harm to the persuasion process. Garr Reynolds, a leading writer on the art and science of presentation, says in Presentation Zen, “Bullet-point filled slides with reams of text become a barrier to good communication.” Chris Atherton, a cognitive psychologist who has scientifically studied bullet points, writes, “Bullets don't kill, bullet points do.”
This article is coauthored by A2L Consulting’s CEO, Kenneth J. Lopez, J.D., a trial graphics and trial consulting expert and David H. Schwartz, Ph.D. of Innovative Science Solutions. Dr. Schwartz has extensive experience designing programs that critically review the scientific foundation for product development and major mass tort litigation. For 20 years, he has worked with the legal community evaluating product safety and defending products such as welding rods, cellular telephones, breast implants, wound care products, dietary supplements, general healthcare products, chemical exposures (e.g., hydraulic fracturing components), and a host of pharmaceutical agents (including antidepressants, dermatologics, anti-malarials, anxiolytics, antipsychotics, and diet drugs).
by Ryan H. Flax, Esq. (Former) Managing Director, Litigation Consulting A2L Consulting
by Kenneth J. Lopez, J.D. CEO & Founder A2L Consulting I created my first trial exhibit while working for the U.S. government in 1992 as a clerk in the Eastern District of Virginia. Two assistant U.S. attorneys were having a hard time explaining why a witness was able to see the defendant in a drug bust in spite of a four-foot wall. I created a simple map exhibit using my Mac and they were thrilled.
Share: