We didn’t use a trial binder.
For me, this was big.
I am not a naturally organized person, and as you have seen from some
of my
posts
on the
topic on my own blog, I
think trial organization is of the utmost importance. There are two reasons for this. The first is
perception. The jury sees everything you
do during the whole trial. If you seem
disorganized, and your trial table is messy, the jury notices. And consciously or not, it influences them at
least a little. The second reason is
practical. A trial (especially a long
one) can be unwieldy, and requires keeping track of a variety of documents,
whether they are exhibits, pleadings, depositions, jury instructions, or a
hundred other things. It is very important to be able to locate and use those
things at a moment’s notice.
I had it drilled into me as a young lawyer that the only
tested and true way to keep track of everything was to use a detailed trial
binder (or several), separated into sections and indexed for easy access in an
instant. Over the years it became
ingrained, so much so that the mere act of getting the binder put together
became an important part of my mental preparation for trial. Back in the day, I remember showing up for a
case in small claims court with a trial binder, and having the other lawyer
make fun of me. I didn’t care- I felt
and looked organized because I was. And
I won the case, too.
This time, we took the plunge. Instead of a traditional trial binder, we
used our iPads
to serve the same purpose. Laura (who
unlike me is
naturally, if not pathologically, organized) put together our electronic file
for trial and separated it out into sections just like you would do with a
traditional trial binder. Then we both
took that and loaded it onto our iPads using Dropbox.
Frederick County Circuit Court is equipped with a wi-fi
network, so we had easy access to the entire file. Just in case, we made sure to save things we
knew were significant directly to our devices.
We also brought a cellular wireless hot spot, just in case.
There are a few apps that let us get the most out of our
electronic access to the whole file. For
example, we used Goodreader
for reading and annotating depositions and other documents. It allows you to highlight electronically,
and also has a search feature that lets you search and locate a particular word
even more quickly than the word index to a deposition. If you need to switch
between documents rapidly, it lets you have more than one window open at a
time. So for example, we could have our
client’s medical records and deposition transcript open at the same time for
following along and making notes during the other side’s cross-examination. I also used Goodreader for my
cross-examination of the defendant and the defense experts, since I could have
my outline of questions open in one window, and a highlighted copy of the
witness’s deposition transcript in the other.
This made cross-examining on prior testimony really easy, and kept me
from fumbling around for extra copies of exhibits so the witness and I each had
one.
We also used a trial management program called Sanction for the opening and closing, and to
pull up documents on the monitor so that the jury could see what the witness
was being asked about. Sanction lets you
manipulate, enlarge, highlight documents, insert call-out boxes, etc. You can also use it to insert bits of audio
or video into the presentation. One
thing we did was take the audio recording of the defendant’s guilty plea in
traffic court and insert it into our opening statement. Instead of hearing us tell them about the
guilty plea, the jury got to hear it for themselves, in the defendant’s own
words. Pretty powerful stuff. The downside to Sanction is that it can’t
be done remotely by the attorney, so you need a paralegal along to run it. All that really means is looking over and
calling out the exhibit or page number you want pulled up on the screen.
I did something new for the rebuttal closing, too. I did that wirelessly from my iPad, using an Apple TV
unit to wirelessly call up everything I needed in real time. I used an app called Trialpad for
that. It lets you move around in the
room while you control the presentation from the iPad. You can play video and animations, call up
documents or pictures, and highlight, redact or enlarge. It even has an electronic pointer
feature. It worked flawlessly, even
though it was the first time I had used it live in front of a jury. Being able to control it myself gives me a
lot of flexibility, especially when the size of the case may not justify
bringing along a paralegal for the whole trial.
All in all, we were really pleased about how the technology
we were using made the case easy to organize and present, and how it allowed us
to tell our jury a compelling, persuasive story. I’m sure we will refine this approach as we
use it for more trials, but we think we are heading in the right direction.
Oh, and if you’re wondering- yes, the defense took a shot at
use for our use of “fancy bells and whistles.”
Like it’s our fault they showed up with piles of paper and a few exhibit
boards. Since I knew that shot was
coming (it happens nearly every time), I handled it by memorizing the jurors’
jobs the night before and then at argument looking at each and giving examples
of how technology is used (in their own jobs) every day in 2013. I explained
that we aren’t doing our job of zealously representing our client if we don’t
use every tool at our disposal, including electronic presentation
technology.
About Our Guest Author
John Bratt is an attorney with Miller & Zois, LLC in Glen Burnie, Maryland. He concentrates his practice in serious auto and truck accidents, appellate litigation and medical malpractice cases. He is a member of MAJ’s Board of Governors and chaired MAJ’s Auto Negligence Section from 2009 to 2011. He has been named a Maryland SuperLawyers Rising Star each year from 2010 to 2013 , and was named to The National Trial Lawyers’ Top 40 Under 40 for 2012. He lives in Lutherville, Maryland with his wife Katie, their daughter Delilah, and a Shih-Tzu named Keno.
Sounds terrific-great job---I'm sure i dont have enough life expectancy to learn how to do the same!! +r
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