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The Cogent Legal Offices
Oakland, CA
350 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza #602
Oakland, CA 94612
Sacramento, CA
8801 Folsom Blvd. #220
Sacramento, CA 95826
Telluride, CO
3130 Last Dollar Rd.
Telluride, CO 81320
Senior Staff
Morgan Smith
Founder & CEO
Morgan Smith thrives at the juncture of law and art. With over 17 years of experience as an attorney litigating high-value cases, he combined his litigation background with strong creative and visual communication skills to found Cogent Legal. Now he helps other attorneys hone their strategies and translate their stories into compelling and creative visuals for trial.
Andrew Walker
Co-Executive Director - Sacramento
Andrew is the Co-Executive Director of the Sacramento office, and brings almost 15 years of experience as an attorney to the job. Andrew was the founding member of Focused Decisions, and developed a successful nationwide practice in mock trial work. Andrew and Deep now head this department for Cogent Legal.
Deep Athwal
Co-Executive Director - Sacramento
Deep has almost 15 years of experience as an attorney, and developed an expertise in the art of mock trials over the last few years at Focused Decisions, before joining Cogent Legal. Deep brings an extensive knowledge of combining compelling visuals and themes to test your case in a mock trial, and then provides the analysis afterward for trial preparation.
Michael Kelleher
Litigation Consultant
As a graphics consultant and trial technician, Mike provides courtroom presentations, custom litigation graphics, e-briefs, and trial strategy consulting. Mike works side-by-side with litigators in court and trial war rooms, using his technological expertise and his 16 years of experience litigating complex business and intellectual property cases. Mike is a registered patent attorney and a former nuclear submarine officer.
David Filippini
General Manager, Creative Director
David has over 10 years of professional expertise within architecture, environmental graphics, and industrial design, and is uniquely equipped to analyze/visualize the built environment. He puts himself in the shoes of clients, juries, and judges to understand their needs and perspectives, then reinterprets the case to create compelling graphics in all phases of litigation.
Audrey Murray
Director of Public Relations
Audrey Murray joined Cogent Legal in 2014. She brought over 19 years of experience in the legal field, both as a paralegal and consultant. Audrey focuses on building client relationships and helping clients articulate and visualize their cases to create the most compelling graphics.
Ryan Nichols-Roy
Marketing Director
Ryan brings over 15 years of experience in the digital marketing industry to the Cogent Legal team. With a deep passion for photography, videography, graphic design, and web development, Ryan excels at simplifying the message and perfecting the presentation.
Chris Conlin
Visual Designer
Chris is a multidisciplinary artist with over 12 years experience in both full time production and freelance environments. Developing products in the outdoor industry has provided him with a wealth of knowledge focused on problem solving, communicating, and motivating through visual media.
America's top attorneys trust Cogent Legal.
"I highly recommend Cogent Legal; they are wonderful to work with. Morgan’s former life as a trial attorney gives him insight into each case and his ideas and suggestions are terrific. Without a doubt my favorite source for Day in the Life videos."
"We all know good demonstratives drive home damages. Cogent Legal understands how to make damages visual and concrete. I have no doubt that their work has led to better results for my clients and I have absolute confidence in the Cogent team to deliver the level of quality that I’ve come to expect for my personal injury cases."
"We hired Cogent Legal to create an animation for a multimillion-dollar case, and the firm made an exceptionally powerful presentation. As a former trial lawyer, Morgan is able to think about a case thematically, and translate it visually, to best present it to a jury."
"Morgan was a fantastic law partner for over a decade. The best trials are the true art of presentation, and Morgan is an amazingly creative lawyer who could turn the most complicated issues into an easy-to-understand demonstrative exhibit. I wish I still had Morgan’s creativity on all of my cases, but we’re happy to use Cogent Legal for his services now."
"The artists and thinkers at Cogent Legal are superb. They have three essential qualities for the creation of excellent graphics in court: they are highly creative, detail-oriented, and you can absolutely depend on them to be completely prepared in court. When it comes to complex issues, they understand the importance of storylines, and they know how to educate decision-makers—juries and judges alike."
"Cogent Legal was particularly helpful in my defense of a product liability case with its rather technical defenses. Morgan Smith’s insights and suggestions helped to refine our demonstratives and exhibits, and simplified our message. The jury certainly heard that message, with its defense verdict after a 30-minute deliberation."
"I have known and worked on the same cases with Morgan for over eight years. He immediately stood out as an exceptional opposing counsel and far ahead of most plaintiff attorneys, with superb organizational skills, legal expertise, and the ability to document and illustrate his key points with exhibits. He’s a true master at visualizing important and complex information for each case."
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What we do
You've come to the right place.
It's no secret that going to trial is one of the most stressful and intimidating experiences that an attorney will face.
At Cogent Legal, we craft high-quality demonstrative graphics designed to help you explain your case. We have decades of combined experience in creating persuasive trial exhibits for use in openings, closing, and witness examinations. Cogent Legal also provides strategic case consulting and trial support. In myriad ways, our team helps attorneys prepare and present their cases for maximum results with minimum stress. We specialize in creating artful and persuasive graphics meant to complement each case’s own unique story.
What is said is not always understood. That is reason alone to incorporate compelling visual concepts into your case narrative. We also provide counsel and strategic guidance in areas of admissibility, design, tactics for presentation, interpreting legal issues, and other nuances. In addition to our design and consulting practice areas, we also offer in-court technology services, pre-trial support, mock trials, and focus groups. We pride ourselves in creating a boutique, client-focused experience, with the capability to handle any sized case.
