As we learned recently in following the high-profile litigation between Apple and Samsung over their smartphone patents, patent litigation can affect the very future of a company and can involve billions of dollars.
A Q&A about using statistics in litigation with David Schwartz, Ph.D., Nathan Schachtman, Esq. moderated by litigation support specialist Ken Lopez
By: Ryan H. Flax (Former) Managing Director, Litigation Consulting A2L Consulting
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 Theresa Villanueva, Esq. Director, Litigation Consulting A2L Consulting
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.
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).
As the second quarter comes to a close, summer temps are headed into the triple digits on the East Coast, the Supreme Court heads into recess after releasing the big healthcare decision this morning (actual healthcare opinion here in PDF) and vacation season kicks into full swing (with August being the month with fewest trials in the Federal Courts). The end of a fiscal quarter also means we will soon be drawing for a free iPad for one of our lucky subscribers (we do it every quarter). As we look back over Q2, let's take a moment to review the most popular Litigation Consulting Report blog articles of the quarter. I hope that you didn't miss one of these, but just in case you did, here they are with the most popular one first. Also, if you missed the release of A2L's BIG Litigation E-Book yesterday, you'll want to download a copy of that valuable 75-page book packed with litigation tactics (complimentary for subscribers to this blog).
What are the absolute best practices in the trial support industry? What lessons can be learned from decades of experience? Recently, three of A2L Consulting's top courtroom experts were interviewed about their combined 50 years of work in the industry. Those interviewed were Ryan H. Flax, Esq., Managing Director, Litigation Consulting at A2L and patent litigator who has contributed to teams winning more than $1 billion of jury verdicts; Theresa D. Villanueva, Esq., Director, Litigation Consulting, who has experience consulting on more than 200 cases and worked in litigation at a major law firm; and Kenneth J. Lopez, Founder & CEO of A2L, who has worked as a consultant with every major law firm. From their interviews, we culled 10 helpful tips for litigators and those who support trial teams.
Have you ever seen the President of the United States give a PowerPoint presentation? Probably not. But he's actually quite good at it, as you will see below.
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