Cost trial director

After all, these people reason, anyone can run a presentation with a few PowerPoint slides for a couple of days during a trial. However, few trials are quite that simple.

When the stakes are high and the demands are numerous, you need someone you can trust who can perform well under pressure. Be sure to match your hot seat operator to your needs — assess their abilities, experience and grace under pressure.

Knowing what your trial demands will help you hire the right operator. At Litigation Insights we vet all of our presentation technology consultants. Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. Email Address. Categories: Trial Graphics and Trial Technology Tags: consultants , courtroom presentation , courtroom technology , courtroom technology consultant , depositions , hot seat , hot seat operator , trial director , Trial Graphics , trial presentation , trial tech , trial technology , trial technology consultant , and video depositions.

Next ». January 29, Fifteen years ago there was a very small group of hot seat operators that were competent and trustworthy enough to run your technology in the courtroom. Experience in the Courtroom for Hot Seat Operators Really Does Matter As you will see, all of the characteristics outlined below boil down to one obvious overall trait: experience. Basic Abilities of Hot Seat Operators: These professionals will have a basic understanding of PowerPoint, how to turn on a projector and the document camera.

They do best with simple one- to two-day trials with a small PowerPoint slide deck for opening or closing, and a handful of pre-selected documents. They can perform video edits in the courtroom on a secondary computer.

They would typically be part of the Litigation Support or IT department. This unique position helps them keep up to date with all of the software and advanced techniques. They can often let you know about a certain courtroom or judge and can assist in communicating with court personnel whom they may have worked with in the past.

Another added value is their list of resources for anything trial-related. A good trial presentation consultant should be able to handle nearly any technology-related issue that may arise, be it in court or the war room. They will normally supply the trial support computers, so you will not necessarily need to purchase trial-specific software and equipment.

Regardless the value of your case or number of exhibits, technology can and should be utilized. A database with hundreds of thousands of exhibit pages operates just like one with only a few hundred. The key is having everything organized prior to database development. Without going too techie here, it is vital to implement and adhere to an exhibit numbering e. It is best to set this up early in the process, as opposed to dealing with different and duplicative numbering shortly before trial.

Simply put, every exhibit and every page must have a unique ID. It is common practice to review and select the key exhibits for use in trial. While this may be helpful for your own organizational purposes, it is not the best route for your trial database. Rather than delaying development of the database, it is easier, more efficient and cost-effective to simply include everything you have in the exhibit collection. One simple rule to follow: If you would bring it with you in hard copy to an out-of-town trial which generally means bringing everything ; include it in your trial database.

If all parties agree to share the trial presentation equipment, rental costs and setup fees are also shared. This is something to consider when deciding whether to rent or purchase equipment, as is the fact that along with equipment comes setup, maintenance, and replacement as necessary. Many firms have needlessly purchased inferior trial presentation equipment which is not suitable for courtroom use.

The court will generally allow only one setup in the courtroom — not one per party. Fortunately, many courts are purchasing and installing equipment. A typical courtroom setup will include a high-powered projector lumens or greater, not DLP , screen, flat-panel exhibit preview monitors for counsel, judge and witness, a document camera ELMO , a sound system and a complex wiring and switching system to control it all.

See Image 2. Counsel: I would also like to reference the sixth paragraph found on page 17 of exhibit number one. TD Hot Seat Operator : Transitions current image to the left-hand side of the screen and presents page 17 of exhibit number one directly to the right-hand side of the screen. Trial Director 22 Jan Close Search Please enter keywords search. Ethan has provided law firms, government agencies, and other litigation companies with the highest level of training, consulting, and support, using his knowledge of case management, trial preparation and presentation.

Ethan currently serves as a Client Success Manager, providing in-depth and comprehensive assistance to law firms across the country.