Creating partnerships for success

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Firms that go to trial frequently know that there are a lot of puzzle pieces that come together to be successful at a trial. Obviously, the lawyers doing the lawyering are the most important part! Beyond that, there are a lot of other parts that have to come together to make everything go as well as possible.

Staff – many firms have various staff members that they bring along and they are all important. Paralegals clearly have a critical role in organizing everything and ensuring that the trial team is prepared for their court date. Assistants (secretarial) can be the right-hand of attorneys and/or paralegals and also provide a very valuable service. Some firms bring IT and Office Services personnel along as well to help with all of the things that come up.

Graphics – there are firms that have “in-house” graphics people and many that use consultants for this type of work. Many graphics people are proficient with programs like Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, animation software and Microsoft PowerPoint. This is not an exhaustive list of graphics programs by any means, but not uncommon for most professionals. I have worked with the very talented group of people at Barnes & Roberts. They do everything from tutorials to presentation in court, and everything in between. I have also worked with lots of other great graphics groups over the years. I know Matt Zang does great work, and I can say the same for Scott Whitford.

Hot Seat – sometimes called the Trial Technician, the person that sits in the “hot seat” displays all of the documents in the courtroom. It’s a high pressure spot to be, but a good technician is important to have on the team. Attorneys need to be confident that they can ask for any document in the universe of case related files and know that they will be pulled up quickly and correctly. Again, this can be an employee or consultant.

There can be a whole host of other people associated with the trial team as well. In a big trial, it would not be uncommon to have co-counsel as well as other consultants that monitor the progress of the trial and experts for testimony.

A common thread for all of these people is that they need to have a war room space to work in that is functional and meets all of their technical needs. Many firms do not have someone on staff that can be dedicated to building war rooms, or they might have personnel that are capable but unable to get away from projects back at the office. 

In such a case, it’s important to find a consultant to assist your trial team to help take care of this very critical piece of the puzzle. It would be my pleasure to consult with you to get started on the process.

Don’t wait until the last minute….you might not be able to get good internet access. Another reason to start this process early, you’ll need to contract with your consultant early or they might be booked up with another client. Get in early and get on your consultants calendar.

Wishing you all the best in your next trial.


Leslie

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