In the Watertown New York personal injury jury trial I wrapped up this week, I used some technology that I feel really made a difference. It is called “Exhibit View“, and is a kind of trial presentation software. You load this program onto your laptop, and then connect your laptop to a projector. You then can project exhibits, for example photos and medical records, onto a screen for the jury to see.
The neat thing is that all the jury sees on the big screen is the exhibit itself, not all the paraphernalia you are using to enlarge, mark and move the exhibits. For example, when you want to highlight a portion of the text in the exhibit, or circle it in red ink, the jury sees the highlighting or red circling magically appear on the screen. They don’t see you “grab” the highlighter icon or red “pen” and move them over the text. Only you can see the “tools” you are using on your laptop screen.
Here’s an example of how I used it: After the defense attorney had cross-examined my plaintiff regarding a “history” of the accident taken by one of her doctors that was inconsistent with her testimony about how the accident happened, I did a re-direct of her in which I blew up on the screen, one at time, about five entries from other medical records where the “history” accurately reflected my client’s account. I was able to highlight, before the jury’s eyes, the key entries giving the accurate accounting of the accident. My client testified that each of the entries I was highlighting accurately reflected how the accident happened. So now it became visibly clear that the one “rogue” account of the accident, which defense counsel had made so much of, was due to the doctor’s error rather than my client changing her story.
I think having the jury see the medical records, with relevant portions highlighted, on a large screen was far more effective than simply having my client read the entries from the paper exhibits on the stand.
By the way, we do not have any financial or other interest in Exhibit View, so this is not a “plug”, but I would recommend it to other personal injury and medical malpractice lawyers who want an easy, cheap, and effective way to project exhibits in the courtroom.
Keep safe!
Mike Bersani
Email me at: bersani@mbk-law.com I’d love to hear from you!
Michael G. Bersani, Esq.
mbk-law.com
Central NY Personal Injury Lawyer Michaels Bersani Kalabanka
1-315-253-3293