Litigation Support

I?m Teaching At Solo Practice University!

Posted on February 27, 2009

Team In Training. Have you heard?

Posted on February 26, 2009
I need your help raising $7,000 in donations!! (link to donation page) . It took 28 years of life before cancer personally effected me… Yes, like the general public, I knew about cancer, but not like I do now. A little over a year ago my mother was diagnosed with ovarian cancer...

Jury Returns on Water Company Trial ($70million)

Posted on January 23, 2009
For the past month a trial has taken over my life. 300 video clips, 10,000 documents and multiple PowerPoint presentations later the trial has concluded and the jury is back. While I don’t necessarily agree with the jury’s findings I am proud to have worked on this case...

Peter Phaneuf Gives a Comparision of Verdical and Trial Director

Posted on January 19, 2009
In the trial presentation software arena there are two leading options: Sanction/Verdical by Verdict Systems and Trial Director by Indata Corp. Fellow long time trial technologist Peter Phaneuf recently wrote a great comparison between the two companies latest offerings for law...

To access blog feed reader register for free. (You will also learn about new ways to read and access the freshest law blogs.)

Hey Blake.. where are you?

Posted on January 14, 2009
Sorry I’ve been so absent over the past couple of weeks. I’ve been providing support in a substatial complex litigation case that is taking every free second of time I have. Should be done in 2-3 weeks and I hope to have some new posts ready to go!

Garza v. Merck Going Back to Trial?

Posted on December 12, 2008
Interesting read over at law.com about the 4th Court’s ruling to remand the case due to “juror misconduct”. According to the opinion, juror Jose Manuel Rios received interest-free loans totaling $12,700 from Felicia Garza over a six-year period beginning in 2000 but did not disclose that personal financial relationship during voir dire...

Should You Employ Technology At Trial?

Posted on December 04, 2008
Since the advent and rise in popularity of the internet, the general public has changed the way we all gather our news, research and general information. This electronic age has trickled it’s way into the courtroom. Many major cities in the United States are adding courtroom A/V expenses into their budgets...

TimeMatters Is Wasting My Time

Posted on December 01, 2008
Eight years ago I began helping a local plaintiff firm with all their IT needs. I setup their network, phone system, website, computers, etc. and I’ve been managing their small system ever since, and while it’s not my normal day to day job, I enjoy sticking my nose in the legal IT [...

ABA Journal Needs Your Input On The Legal Recession

Posted on November 18, 2008
I received an email from Stephanie Francis Ward a legal affairs journalist from the ABA Journal asking for help spreading awareness about a survey they are conducting, which is asking questions about a possible legal recession. Survey results will be published in the January ABA Journal…...

Trial Tech View?s Inclusion in Alltop.com!

Posted on November 13, 2008
I’m very excited to announce that The Trial Technologist’s View has been included in the Law section of Alltop.com. Our feeds now sit next to other top legal blogs such as Overlawyered, Above The Law, How Appealing, Ernie The Attorney, and many many more quality blogs...

Update on Pico Projectors

Posted on November 12, 2008
Until this week pico projectors have only been reviewed at electronic shows and by a lucky few. Well now they’re you can get one in your own hands. If you want to waste your hard earned cash. Gizmodo has has great hands on review of the 3M MPro110 in which they claim: It supports up [...

?Magic Wall? for Courtroom Interaction of Evidence?

Posted on November 11, 2008
During the Election coverage the internet came alive with stories about CNN’s Hologram reporters. But what really grabbed my attention was the “Magic Wall” developed by Perceptive Pixel. Here at the Bexar County District courthouse they have upgraded 4 courtrooms to include all the latest A/V equipment, which includes a plasma TV that [...

Holograms..The Future of Video Depositions?

Posted on November 05, 2008
Last night we were all amazed to see the Hologram usage on CNN, even though Star Trek has had this ability for quite some time! Will this be the future of how witness’ testify by video? I wouldn’t doubt it.. But it has a long way to go. The reporters were actually in front [...

Example: How to Visulize Audio Recorded Evidence

Posted on November 03, 2008
Playing back an audio tape of recordings is normally pretty painful. Although there are new services out for making recordings of phone calls, that offer crystal clear quality, most of the time they are almost impossible to hear. That was the situation in this case, the audio was playing back in the original trial presentation, [...

Using Social Networks to Gather Evidence

Posted on October 30, 2008
Around a year ago I was asked to retrieve as much information from social networking sites as I could regarding an ex-wife in a custody battle. After 10 minutes of searching (I’m internet savvy but I in no way claim to be a PI of any sort) I found a wealth of information about [...

Do you know Solosez?

Posted on October 29, 2008
Over at MyShingle.com there is a great post by Carolyn Elefant regarding the largest Solo Practitioner based listserv, “Solosez“. If you are not a member of this list I highly suggest subscribing, the wealth of information that is passed on a daily basis is incredible...

Plaintiff CLE Presentation - How to Survive After Tort Reform

Posted on October 28, 2008
Continuing legal education is an area of the legal systems that we feel is very important, so much so that we offer presentation creation and editing of existing presentations free of charge for certain CLE events (contact us for more information if you feel that your presentation could benefit from our charitable offers)...

The Masters Conference - Electronic Data Discovery

Posted on October 27, 2008
When I was not able to attend the Using Macs In Trial Conference, Brett Burney of edisoceryinfo completed a great review for The Trial Technologists View. Well, Brett is at again, this time giving us a review of The Masters Conference. Don’t know what The Masters Conference is? Here’s a snippet of [...

Medical Illustration & Animation

Posted on October 24, 2008
Listening to a doctor explain a procedure is one of the most difficult topics for a jury to visualize. Any case that involves injuries, whether it be a medical malpractice suit or a car wreck benefits from a quality medical illustration or animation...

Soft Tissue Attorneys? Deposition Technique [video]

Posted on October 23, 2008
We routinely provide courtroom setup and playback of video depositions for small car wreck cases. It’s actually a pretty good bargain for the attorney as we: Synch the video depositions, make the clips, link the evidence, setup/break down the equipment, and playback the video...

Bad Economy Ignites Litigation

Posted on October 22, 2008
From the Charollette Business Journal: Economic downturn expected to fuel litigation : The current economic slump is expected to increase the number of lawsuits companies face, according to a survey by law firm Fulbright & Jaworski. Of the U.S.-based companies participating in this year?s survey, 34 percent expect to see what the study calls a ?run-up? in [...

Personal Injury Law Round-up

Posted on October 22, 2008
If you haven’t heard about the Personal Injury Law Round-up posts than you’ve missed a lot! For a good while fellow legal bloggers have spent countless hours scouring the internet for the most relevant, entertaining, and useful posts on the web and complied them into a single post...

What you need to know about LCD Monitors in the Courtroom

Posted on October 21, 2008
Technology is cheap! Acquiring a full courtroom monitor setup (plaintiff, defense, witness, judge, dual display) would cost a fortune only a couple years ago. Now you can have a slick outfit for a relatively good price. But don’t let this confuse you… Take a quick look online and without much searching you can find [...

Obama Viral Video

Posted on October 20, 2008
I try to stray away from expressing my political views on this blog, but I’ve got to point out this video by “MC Yogi” on Vimeo. Obama ‘08 - Vote For Hope from MC Yogi on Vimeo. This is an example of a great “presentation”, in video form...

Get a Mac - Bean Counter

Posted on October 20, 2008
Apple has an answer to Microsoft’s new ad campaign. And this TV commercial is really funny. Typically I get a few chuckles the first time I see a new Get A Mac ad, but I actually laughed when I watched “Bean Counter“. Take a look, have a laugh and try to forget it’s Monday!

One Tech to Serve Them All?

Posted on October 18, 2008
Fellow Trial Tech Peter Phaneuf posed a great question in the comments of the “In the Courtroom, Silence is Golden“. What I was referring to is a situation where a tech works for both sides. I believe it is a conflict of interest but I have run into people who do not think it is a [...

Changing to Feedburner, please update!!

Posted on October 16, 2008
I wouldn’t mind seeing how many people actually care to follow my ramblings. So I decided to run my feed through Feedburner so I can track how many view posts. Curiosity has gotten a hold of this cat. All of you that do like seeing the videos and getting the tips, can you please [...

In the Courtroom, Silence is Golden

Posted on October 16, 2008
Acoustics in courtrooms vary as much as judges’ personalities do. I know we’ve all been in courtrooms that seem to have a more “public” feeling; Where the judge might be listening to a motion at the bench and there are other open conversations going on...

San Antonio Blawgs

Posted on October 15, 2008
In an effort to give credit to the hard working blawgers from San Antonio, I came up with this quick list that I have in a folder in my RSS reader. San Antonio seems to be a little behind in the technology area when it comes to attorneys. With so much great talent [...

Starting Slander Trial Today

Posted on October 06, 2008
In July of 2004 I was approached by an acquaintance that happened to be an assistant DA that had a big trial coming up. Since I would be working for the Government there wasn’t much available in the form of payment, but it offered me my first criminal trial experience...

What would Barney Fife do?

Posted on September 24, 2008
Last week we were hired by a Trial Technologist’s View reader to create a presentation that would be used throughout a criminal trial. No litigation support was required only the presentation needed to be created. While most slides were typical of what we normally create, I had a first time request of using Barney [...

Solo Practice University

Posted on September 23, 2008
One of the things I like most about this blog has to be the amount of solo and small firm attorneys that benefit from the posts. I like to think I helped a “little guy” out there beat the “big guy”. But how does one gain the real world education of a litigation [...

Authors@Google: Garr Reynolds

Posted on September 22, 2008
Although this is a lenghty video, I highly recommend this talk given by Garr Reynolds to some Google employee’s. Although some of his design tips do not directly translate to what you want use in the courtroom, the basis of his theories are very well placed...

Vertical Timeline in PowerPoint

Posted on September 19, 2008
During the course of our online creation process, I’m routinely presented with a piece of paper with events on it. Timeline’s are important in almost all litigation. Upon reviewing the material from this presentation, I counted a total of 12 different events that the attorney wanted to present...

Pico Projector in a Courtroom near you?

Posted on September 16, 2008
Over the past 6 months or so the gadget world has been buzzing with the newest technology in projectors. So what are these “Pico Projectors”, why is everyone so excited? Imagine having a full fledged projector that fits into the palm of your hand...

Special Discount For TrialTechView.com Visitors

Posted on August 29, 2008
It’s TrialTechView’s one year anniversary! So how about a discount offer?! We’ve decided all of our loyal readers should receive a 25% discount on all Litigation Dynamics PowerPoint and Keynote Presentations! If you’ve been looking at our examples and don’t have the time to create you own, now is the time to contact us! With [...

Plaintiff Lawyer Tips Blog

Posted on August 27, 2008
Admittedly we have more plaintiff trial attorney clients than defense. This may be a subconscious drive on my part, as I was brought up in a strictly plaintiff household. I also seem to root for the underdog in sporting events when my home team (GO SPURS GO) aren’t playing...

Download: Preponderance of the Evidence Graphic

Posted on August 26, 2008
I’ve had multiple requests from attorneys asking for a high quality version of the Preponderance of the Evidence scales we used in our Voir Dire presentation last week. If you would like to use this graphic to use in your own PowerPoint or Keynote presentation please click here...

Combating Biased Evidence / Images

Posted on August 25, 2008
The use of photographic evidence is always the best way to prove your point, if you have the correct photo. Experienced photographers use different angles to make subject’s sizes, proportions and distances look different then they really are. This photograph was produced by opposing counsel...

Using PowerPoint in Voir Dire

Posted on August 22, 2008
Monday morning before the start of trial is always busy for us in the litigation support field. It’s the last few hours before opening statement to make sure all the videos are synchronized, clips are tuned to perfection, documents scanned and PowerPoints completed...

News Article from Last Trial

Posted on August 13, 2008
Last week I wrote about the latest trial we provided Litigation Support in. Today the case was also reviewed and written about in the local paper and online. If you’re interested you can find the article HERE. I find it somewhat disturbing when news reporters cover a case that they did not [...

Opening Statment using Distorted Frame Effect

Posted on August 12, 2008
In the last trial we completed we were asked to create a single slide opening statement presentation. I was handed a piece of paper with the words Privileges, Promises, Choices, Decisions, and Trust on it. I knew they were referencing the plaintiff in the lawsuit, so I asked for a copy of his [...

Automated Transcript Synchronization - Sanction II

Posted on May 27, 2008
A while back Verdict Systems added a feature in Sanction II that allows you - the end user - to synch your video depositions online. This is not a new feature to presentation software packages; inData has their own version, which is called TimeCoder Pro, even the slightly popular Visionary has an online synch [...

Popular Mechanics - Mac > PC in tests

Posted on April 16, 2008
I may seem like I am becoming more and more like the typical Apple fanboy… but, it’s not because I’m falling into the viral marketing campaigns (which are brilliant uses of presentation), it’s because Cupertino is producing far superior products...

Criminal Defense Law With an Apple Blog

Posted on March 21, 2008
Don’t let the title fool you. The Criminal Defense Law with an Apple Blog has some great reviews of software for the Mac. With a recent design upgrade the site is looking as snazzy as ever. Check it out, you might find something new!

Example Use of Pie Charts in Keynote

Posted on March 19, 2008
I don’t spend much time creating presentations that deal with pie charts, so I was a little surprised with myself when I decided to use pie charts in this presentation. I’ve always played with the Charts and Graphs in Keynote, but never found myself using them in final presentations...

Visual of Poorly Designed PowerPoint

Posted on March 17, 2008
In the quest to continually learn new theories and ideas behind presentation design, I follow many blogs. One of the most well known is Presentation Zen by Garr Reynolds. Garr has written a great article comparing eloquent speeches compared with a poorly designed PowerPoint...

Download: Transparent PowerPoint or Keynote Textbox 3

Posted on March 14, 2008
Using simplistic textboxes can make your bullet points stand out in an otherwise busy PowerPoint or Keynote slide. I use textboxes such as this one when I have images or documents on the screen at the same time. The colors are subtle to not distract much from the text or the other images [...

Tis? The Season

Posted on March 10, 2008
About 6 years ago I learned one thing about litigation: Attorney’s love their holidays. Whether it’s Christmas, New Years, Summer or Thanksgiving, if it’s a holiday season, our case load dramatically decrees. What I’m really trying to say is: Since there are no holidays around, we’re busy, 1 week arbitration last week, [...

?Using Macs in Trial II? - Day Two - Show & Tell

Posted on March 04, 2008
Realizing the collective intelligence gathered in the room, Kern Lewis (the host of the seminar) reserved a couple of hours at the end of Saturday for everyone to share tips & tricks, and even to ask their stumper questions to see if someone could help out...

?Using Macs in Trial II? - Day Two - Clarity Legal Software

Posted on March 03, 2008
Before the demo from Clarity Legal Software, the attorneys from Foreman, Lewis & Hutchison (the hosts of this fine seminar) showed how they re-enact a client’s story in their office so they can better understand a case. When they were done re-enacting the scenes from a tragic death of a client in police custody, Rafe Foreman [...

?Using Macs in Trial II? - Day Two - Daylite

Posted on March 02, 2008
Amin Rahmani, Business Development Manager from Marketcircle Inc. took the floor to demo and discuss Daylite and Billings. I had the fortunate pleasure of sitting next to Amin during Friday’s sessions, and we had a chance to talk a bit about the legal market...

?Using Macs in Trial II? - Day Two - Circus Ponies NoteBook

Posted on March 01, 2008
The second day of the “Using Macs in Trial II” seminar started off with Jayson Adams from Circus Ponies Software giving a full demo of their highly functional NoteBook application. They are one of the few Mac software developers that actually have a “legal” section on their Website...

?Using Macs in Trial II? - Day One

Posted on March 01, 2008
Since Blake is busy working this week, he’s unable to attend the “Using Macs in Trial II” seminar this Friday and Saturday in Dallas, Texas; so he has graciously allowed me to “guest blog” a few updates from the show. My name is Brett Burney and I author the www...

CLE Presentation displayed in Keynote - Video

Posted on February 29, 2008
I routinely create CLE presentations for attorneys and the design philosophies I use in mediation and trial seem to fit perfectly. This is an example on how you can apply the general design philosophy to a presentation such as an CLE. The subject dealt mostly with contract issues...

Attorney?s debate Mac v. PC

Posted on February 28, 2008
There was a great article published on the ABA Journal’s website today. Both the attorneys (Ben Stevens and Rick Georges) interviewed are listed in my blogroll. Both of their blogs are in my RSS Reader, and I believe both are very knowledgeable...

Celebrex is dangerous?

Posted on February 07, 2008
Since I am/was a follower of VIOXX litigation after working the nations 3rd VIOXX trial, I was not very surprised when I saw the post “Researchers Find Potentially Dangerous Side Effects Of Arthritis Drug Celebrex” by Bob Kraft over at the P...

Quick Mediation Presentation in Keynote

Posted on February 05, 2008
Friday evening I was at home enjoying a frosty beverage, thankful that the week had ended. Excited to prepare and host a somewhat large superbowl party I had a ton of tasks to accomplish. Then the phone rang. I answer to a worried voice asking “Hey Blake, I’ve got a mediation Monday [...

Ben Stevens at ABA TechShow

Posted on January 09, 2008
Ben Stevens a proud, Mac totin’, bloggin’ lawyer recently posted about his upcoming speaking arraignments at the 2008 ABA TechShow. Having multiple presentations on how to use Macs in law offices shows the widening acceptance, that makes me happy...

My Top 5 Visited Websites

Posted on January 05, 2008
I spend too much time online. When I got involved using computers, the internet was changing from a text based, unorganized mess to a great source of information and entertainment. To this day I constantly feel like I was when a kid… clicking on that link to find out what’s behind it… And so [...

Download: Transparent Text Box w/ Reflection 2

Posted on January 02, 2008
I know that one of the most difficult issues when laying out your presentation is to accomplish a captivating way to display text and bullet points. While you can’t make it too flashy, the text still needs to stand out and grab attention. This text box can be used in PowerPoint and/or Keynote...

Download: Spotlight Effect for PowerPoint & Keynote

Posted on December 27, 2007
This “spotlight” effect can be used to place documents, pictures, logos, etc. in your PowerPoint or Keynote Presentations. Using lighting can be effective by giving your slides a more 3 dimensional feel. Included in the zip file are two ...

Merry Christmas and a look into next year!

Posted on December 24, 2007
With this year coming to a quick end I wish to thank all of my loyal readers! Without all of you, there would be no point in spending time on this blog. Good news for all of you is that I plan to have a more consistent posting schedule in the new year! I hope [...

Mediation Presentation - From Outline to PowerPoint

Posted on December 14, 2007
Here’s an example of how to take an outline and turn it into a PowerPoint presentation. The top 3 points I would like to point out while you watch the presentation are: 1. Outlines are just that an outline. Your presentation should follow an outline, and not tell the story...

Macbook Fastest Windows PC in New Apple Ad

Posted on December 04, 2007
Apple, once again taking jabs at windows vista, has released a new ad immortalizing PC Worlds claim that the MacBook Pro runs Windows Vista faster than any other notebook. Since the article came out I’ve finally had an answer to Windows users that say, “Mac’s are too expensive”...

Slow Times..

Posted on November 28, 2007
Every year around Thanksgiving it seems that mediations and trials start to dwindle down as everyone gets ready for the holiday season. While I’d love to give a review of a current trial I have none to report on. There has been around 25 entry’s into the contest, so if you haven’t entered, you [...

Contest 1: Submit Form - Post Comment - WIN!

Posted on November 19, 2007
For the first contest at The Trial Technologist?s View we?re going to make it simple. Submit the form for a chance to win. If you post a comment you get double the entry! What you can win: A PowerPoint or Keynote presentation that is custom tailored for your specific legal proceeding...

Come Visit - New Site, New Videos, New Contests!

Posted on November 19, 2007
There is a reason posting has been a little slow over the past couple of days, and this is it! I’m happy to release a new version of The Trial Technologist’s View. So what does the new site offer? - Easier to read layout - Section dedicated to Video Tutorials and Examples - Much faster loading [...