Game – Set – Match Your Tech With Your Evidence

If you have to go to court, you want to make sure that you are being the most effective advocate possible. There are many ways to persuade the trier of fact – but you can shine by bringing a picture (or graphics) which, as they say, are worth a thousand words. So think about how you can make your next case sparkle (and hopefully win the battle) by bringing persuasive technology with you to court, to a mediation or to your next arbitration.

What can you use? Here is a selection of alternatives:

• Use (PC or Mac), Keynote (Mac) or TrialPad (iPad)  to display photographs, diagrams or maps.
• Use an Elmo (document camera) to display small objects or to be able to rotate a physical object for all to see.
• Have a DVD or Blu-ray player for video evidence (or laptop with the appropriate  optical drive installed).
• Consider having a color printer in court to print out copies if necessary, for note taking or marking up by a witness.
• For dynamic evidence, consider having a touch-sensitive Smartboard….that combines a whiteboard with a computer screen, thereby allowing a witness to draw, note, highlight, rotate and otherwise manipulate images with their finger:

The Smartboard is used in grade school classes to great effect for good reason.  Smartboards allow people to manipulate and highlight graphical evidence with their hands by using appropriate ‘pens’.  After all, it is one thing to describe an exhibit; better to  see it; best yet, allow the witness to manipulate it, highlight it, draw on it, indicate the placement of objects, people or directions on it – in other words, to make the exhibit real to everyone in the court.

As advocates, at the end of the day, we want to say – game, set, match!