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.
Ryan H. Flax (Former) Managing Director, Litigation Consulting A2L Consulting
A Q&A about using statistics in litigation with David Schwartz, Ph.D., Nathan Schachtman, Esq. moderated by litigation support specialist Ken Lopez
by Theresa D. Villanueva, Esq. Director, Litigation Consulting A2L Consulting
By: Ryan H. Flax (Former) Managing Director, Litigation Consulting A2L Consulting
By Ryan H. Flax (Former) Managing Director, Litigation Consulting A2L Consulting
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.
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.
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.
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).
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