Antaal Williams Engineering Consultants, Ltd. provides ancillary litigation support to attorneys who must prepare effective presentations in challenging and complex trials. For those cases that result in trials before a jury, the entire process can become time consuming and burdensome. Many details and intricacies must be addressed to follow the rules of the court and the proceedings. For some cases, the process of preparing for trial can last for months as the parties gather the evidence and prepare for an effective communication of the pertinent details. Attorneys are often focused on pulling together the legal arguments and preparing to present the case fully, so the tedious but necessary work of discovery and other supporting services needs to be given to other people. When these services are needed, firms will often send in litigation support services. The term is somewhat nebulous, but the basic assumption is the same—attorneys must utilize some level of litigation support in an effort to meet tight deadlines for trial.
DEMONSTRATIVE EVIDENCE
Almost every client’s story can be more persuasively told with the judicious selection of some form of demonstrative evidence. The process of creating demonstrative evidence aids in focusing upon the subject matter and analysis of most cases with a technical foundation. Paramount to the inclusion of demonstrative evidence is the fact that if well done, demonstrative evidence will anchor key elements of the case by supplanting an image in the minds of the jury that is consistent with the expert witness testimony.
“A computer animation is not substantive evidence used to prove the facts of a case; rather it is demonstrative evidence used to help a jury to understand substantive evidence … where the animation illustrates expert testimony, the relevant question is not whether the animation represents the underlying events of the [case] with indisputable accuracy, but whether the animation accurately represents the expert’s opinion as to those events.” [Making Certain Your Demonstrative Evidence is Admitted, Eustace de Saint Phalle, Plaintiff Magazine, Feb. 2016]
Antaal Williams Engineering Consultants, Ltd. can assist in the preparation of the following categories of demonstrative evidence when preparing for trial in a personal injury matter:
- Maps and diagrams of a particular location or roadway which illustrate the site of the incident
- Medical diagrams or charts to illustrate anatomy or injuries to assist the testimony of medical experts
- Radiology films with colorization or labels to assist the testimony of medical experts
- Medical/anatomical models (spine, cervical spine, lumbar spine, brain, etc.)
- Timelines, chronologies, and summaries of work history, past medical history, future medical treatment, medications, disability, and work status
- Tables illustrating recommended future medical treatment or work restrictions, per the testimony of treating physicians and experts
- Animations illustrating future treatment or surgical needs (shoulder, knee, spine surgery, epidural block, and radiofrequency ablations, etc.)
- Animations illustrating opinion testimony of an expert (not a reenactment or simulation, but to illustrate part or all of an expert’s opinions)
- Videos of surgeries or similar incidents that show movement of vehicles, equipment, or the human body in an event
- Tables itemizing and summarizing economic damages (past and future medical expenses, past wage loss, and loss of earning capacity)