MULTIMEDIA: THE USE OF COMPUTERS IN LITIGATION, TRIAL, AND ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEEDINGS

• Jurisdiction: United States

Natural Resources & Environmental Litigation II
(May 1996)
CHAPTER 13B
MULTIMEDIA: THE USE OF COMPUTERS IN LITIGATION, TRIAL, AND ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEEDINGS
Raymond C. Hauschel
Z-Axis Corporation
Denver, Colorado

Whether we live in Cairo, Illinois or Cairo, Egypt, the advent, popularization, and accessibility of television and computers, as well as the instant access to information it affords us, has changed the way we think about and look at the world. We are constantly bombarded with images, data, and information. We take our information quickly and move on. The very process by which we learn has changed forever.

The Reality Of Our World

Time Warner, Paramount, Disney, TCI, MCI, US West, Ruppert Murdoch and many others are in the midst of a great race to invest hundreds of billions of dollars for the opportunity to develop, control, and deliver information, education and entertainment, on command, to every household, worldwide. It is testament to the importance of technology as a persuasive medium.

Thirty years ago the Canadian pop philosopher Marshall McLuhan stated that the "medium is the massage." He also stated that the "medium is the message." He was talking about the power of television. Today we have extended that world to include widespread use of computers, the Internet, and multimedia. Imagine what can occur when substance is added to form: the strategy...the visual strategy.

Computers As A Communications Tool

So what is a visual strategy, if not so many pictures, animations, and exhibit boards? We might define it as a persuasive approach that enhances understanding of your position, educates the jury to the baseline data, and achieves accord, while tracking consistently with your overall case strategy. We also might say that it is the weaving of a series of displays that represent thousands of documents and pieces of evidence that define your story in its most basic terms. At its best, it is all these elements and one more: the delivery, well orchestrated and planned, utilizing a multimedia approach-multimedia because it is the embodiment of our world today.

As advocates, we have the ability to use technology as our tool. The issue is not so much whether or not we feel it fits the venue. It is an opportunity to better control and mold our position.

We know from exit interviews and observations that lay juries and judges alike sit up and take notice when they are about to view an animation, graphic or document over the electronic platform. It is important, therefore, that the most critical aspects of the case be presented in this manner. Not the entire case, or perhaps even a majority of it, but certainly the most important elements.

[Page 13B-2]

Facts About Learning, Retention And Persuasion

In Stephen J. Adler's The Jury, Disorder In The Court, a jury foreman in a complex antitrust case, Liggett & Myers v. Brown & Williamson, was asked if he thought the jury could ever be qualified to hear such a case. He responded that "if you could find a jury that's both a computer technician, a lawyer, an economist, knows all about that stuff, yes, I think you could have a qualified jury. But we don't know anything about that." However, the strategic use of visuals can help you build that bridge.

In 1981 the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania attempted to analyze the level of retention within 3 distinct scenarios. Information that was communicated verbally, then...