I spotted an interesting blog post over the weekend that criticized a New York Times article about the Israeli-Arab conflict for using charts and data in a misleading way. I've written about cheating with charts before in several articles, but my 2012 article, 5 Demonstrative Evidence Tricks and Cheats to Watch Out For, in particular, offers some good lessons and has been read by thousands of people. Although it is taken from a very different context than courtroom litigation, the blog post about the Middle East and the Times contains good lessons for both offense and defense when it comes to creating or refuting litigation graphics. The authors levy five key complaints against the New York Times article and its use of graphics to support a narrative.
by Ryan H. Flax (Former) Managing Director of Litigation Consulting A2L Consulting
by Ken Lopez Founder/CEO A2L Consulting "How long in advance of trial should I be working with my trial graphics firm?" I hear this question in some form quite regularly. Often the person asking it has some idea of what they are planning to do, and they are looking for validation of their plan. However, for those who are genuinely looking for best-practices, I can offer meaningful guidance based on 20 years of advising top litigators and watching top trial teams prepare for trial. Clearly, a balance must be struck between the likelihood of settlement and the value of preparing your trial presentation long in advance of trial. Prepare too late and you risk not helping your fact finders understand your case, and you surely won't be maximizing your persuasiveness. Prepare too early and you run the risk of doing work that won't be needed if settlement occurs, and you might be focusing too much on your trial presentation and not enough on developing a good record. So what's the right amount of prep time for trial graphics?
by Ken Lopez Founder/CEO A2L Consulting
by Ryan H. Flax, Esq. (Former) Managing Director, Litigation Consulting A2L Consulting
by Ryan H. Flax, Esq. (Former) Managing Director, Litigation Consulting A2L Consulting
by Ken Lopez Founder/CEO A2L Consulting
by Ken Lopez Founder/CEO A2L Consulting Since 2011, hundreds of thousands of people have visited A2L's website and industry-leading litigation blog, The Litigation Consulting Report. They come to research A2L's litigation support services, they come to learn how to improve their results as litigators and litigation support professionals, and many come to download a free litigation e-book or watch a free litigation webinar.
I find that by knowing how long something typically takes to do well, one can actually become better at doing that task. It makes sense, right? Once you know how long great work takes, you stop second-guessing your schedule as you do the work. I remember noticing this when I was doing computer animation in the 1990s.
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