by Ken Lopez
Founder/CEO
A2L Consulting
We publish a lot of articles on this blog here at A2L Consulting. Sometimes we publish so many that it’s not easy to decide which ones to read first.
That's why once a quarter we do a mini-retrospective of the best articles based on what our readers choose to look at. Our theory is that the more people that read an article, the more compelling and the better it is. All these articles relate in some way to persuasion: Why expensive-looking litigation graphics are better than inexpensive-looking ones, why you are less persuasive when you are using clichés, how people obtain trial experience these days when most cases don’t go to trial.
We think this also helps our readership sort through the very best of our content by relying on the votes of 6,600 fellow subscribers as indicated by their reading habits.
In the first quarter of 2015 we published 21 articles. The top article was read more than 4,000 times (so far).
Interestingly, the most-read article was about the famous “blue and black dress” that became an Internet meme, and what kind of trial evidence would be admissible to show what color the dress actually was. This tells us that people are fascinated not only by the dress and the optical illusions that it invoked, but also by the facts that the human mind and eye can easily be fooled and that evidence is necessary to solve the issue of the color of the dress. When you ask, what sort of evidence is necessary, you are already asking the question that a trial lawyer would ask.
The second most popular article described what in-house counsel often say about trial lawyers in major law firms. Again, the key was persuasion. Many in-house counsel said that what persuaded jurors 30 years ago is no longer what persuades them today. Many said that the details of the law were far less important than the need to tell a persuasive story at trial.
The third most-read article dealt with the well-known techniques of persuasion. Among them are the need to entertain the audience, connect with the audience, and respect the audience.
Here are the top trial and litigation consulting articles, in inverse order of how popular they were:
10. New and Free E-Book: The Voir Dire Handbook
9. How PowerPoint Failures in Demonstrative Evidence Can Sink a Case
8. How To Find Helpful Information Related to Your Practice Area
7. Why Expensive-Looking Litigation Graphics Are Better
6. How to Make PowerPoint Trial Timelines Feel More Like a Long Document
5. Why The Use of Clichés Puts Your Persuasiveness at Risk
4. With So Few Trials Where Do You Find Trial Experience Now?
3. How to Apply Cialdini's 6 Principles of Persuasion in the Courtroom
2. 9 Things In-House Counsel Say About Outside Litigation Counsel
1. Why the Color of a Dress Matters to Litigators and Litigation Graphics
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