News, views and tips on litigation graphics, trial strategy and the law.

Using Color Strategically in Litigation Presentations

June 29, 2023 by Leave a Comment

How does color “color” your argument? The use of color in trial presentation design is becoming less an aesthetic choice and more a strategy of persuasion—and has everything to do with a positive jury response to, and retention of, your argument.

That insight comes from Dave Nugent, who I’m excited to announce just joined Cogent Legal’s team as a senior producer. Dave has worked in the litigation graphics field for well over a decade and has a great understanding of the best ways to create effective media presentations to strengthen a case at mediation or trial. One thing I really like about Dave is the way he uses cognitive psychology to inform his work, as his article below on the topic of color shows.

So, when you’re presenting infographics, PowerPoints and other types of media in court, should you use B&W or color? Brown or blue? Here’s Dave’s advice:

[Read more...]

Why Attorneys Should Treat Mediation Like Trial

June 10, 2024 by Leave a Comment

These days, the case that gets tried is the exception, and the case that settles at mediation is the rule. A study by the National Center for State Courts concluded that only about 3 percent of civil cases go to trial, while the other 97 percent are settled or dismissed.

This means that mediation is the de facto trial, and you should care and prepare as you would for a judge and jury.

While the atmosphere of mediation invites informality, neither side can forget that the goal is to obtain the highest amount for settlement from the plaintiff’s perspective and the lowest amount from the perspective of the defense, just as if the case were being presented to a jury. [Read more...]

5 Reasons Why Attorneys Should Try Interactive PDFs for Case Presentations

June 3, 2024 by 1 Comment

Recently, while creating graphic timelines for clients, I explored new ways to use Adobe InDesign to produce interactive PDFs for these timelines. By “interactive PDF,” I mean a dynamic document that has layers of information in multimedia formats (e.g. photos, video, animations, infographics) that an attorney easily can scroll through while presenting the case chronologically.

My attorney clients have been quite excited about the end results, so I want to share the power of interactive PDFs with others and explain why it can be such an effective way to present information at mediation or trial. Given the functionality it allows, your ability to create a powerful presentation is almost endless. [Read more...]