6 Helpful “How To” Lessons on Legal Tech and Litigation Graphics

Yesterday for Christmas, I opened a box that contained my very own Google Glass, and I know I’ll spend a good chunk of time during this vacation week teaching myself how to use the device. Once I get a feel for how Glass works and how attorneys might harness its power for litigation, you can bet I’ll share what I learned here on this blog.

I truly enjoy writing “how to” posts to pass along tips that can improve case presentations and make a litigator’s life easier. These posts often describe how to troubleshoot or avoid tech snafus that can crop up before or during trial. Or, they describe how to use technology and develop visual aids to make a more powerful case presentation.

As discussed earlier (in How Lawyers Can and Must Learn Legal Tech and Social Media), attorneys who don’t learn to use technology effectively will find themselves at a competitive disadvantage. Here are six of my favorite “how to” posts from the past year that aim to help litigators use graphics and technology to build and present the best case possible for their clients:

How to Build the Visual Foundation of Your Case: Step-by-step advice on what to do before depositions, before mediation and before trial to create powerful visual aids for your case presentation, especially if your time and budget are limited.

How to Escape PowerPoint Video Hell: Tips to avoid problems such as “link not found” and over-pixelation when embedding and playing videos in a PowerPoint.

How to Guide the Jury Through the Verdict Form in Closing Argument: My partner Michael Kelleher explains how to create a graphic of a verdict form to show jurors, and then how to display it and integrate it into your closing argument.

How to Manage E-Discovery and Evidence in Litigation: Another great post by Michael Kelleher—this one outlines how to use Adobe Acrobat and CaseMap to manage e-discovery and a mountain of evidence. The post is a summary of a webinar, and the webinar slides are included for further guidance.

How to Create an Opening Statement Using Graphic Immersion: Using a case example, this post shows several graphics created for an opening that allows the attorney to persuasively convey a great deal of information in a short period of time.

How to Effectively Use Surveillance Video in Tort Cases: This post discusses potential problems with using surveillance video in litigation and gives a case example on how to use it accurately and persuasively to illustrate an incident.

Which “how to” posts related to litigation graphics and courtroom technology would you like to read in the coming year? I welcome your suggestions on blog topics in the comments below.

Happy new year!

Please feel free to contact me if you’d like advice or help on any of the topics discussed above. If you’d like to receive updates from this blog, please click to subscribe by email.