Case dismissed! Irrefutable photo evidence

This one was fun, no gory accidents, no heartbreaking, life-ruining medical mistakes.
The defendant in a construction enforcement action had done everything right, beautiful new wiring with all the latest protections, above code. Some mistake by an inspector resulted in charges against my client. All she had to do was show the photos I took of the new work and [hand dusting gesture], case dismissed, you're free to go.
For my part, I had to lean off balconies four stories up and reach out with camera on auto focus, but nothing like hanging out of a helicopter, shooting a freighter with its deck littered with containers, scattered by a rogue wave, like this:

Courtroom presentation: Do you want to run the machine?

I'm very stingy with my clients' money but one place I encourage them to splurge is to have someone running the projector, elmo, powerpoint, whathaveyou.
If you're not already comfortable with the gear and software, the wrong place to work that out is in front of the jury.
They might forgive your fumbling. (Doesn't that sentence just make you feel bad?) But why ask it of them?
Someone has to be so slick with the presentation technic that not only can they push the right button at the right time, they can troubleshoot on the spot if the right button doesn't work.
And have a backup plan if that whole system doesn't work. Have a way to make your point if electronics fail you. For inspiration about backup plans, see the movie "Heist." This will help your law career.

Settlement Video series: The Story

Settlement video, which I call "Scare the Insurance Company video", will have a story that sticks with the viewer.
Notice I didn't say it should have one. It will have one. The audience will make up something to connect everything you show them.
Your and my job is to make sure it's the story you choose.
This is art, so the only rules are the givens of human perception and thinking. But one good starting place is "A good, worthy, likable person had a great life. Then the awful thing happened that wasn't their fault. Now they suffer."
This might be exactly the story you tell the jury, but settlement video lets you tell it in the most poignant way, unshackled from the rules of evidence.

Settlement Video series: Start with the result

What do you hope happens when the defense sees your video?
I tend to assume my client wants the other side to write a big check.
But sometimes they have something more tactical in mind.
One brilliant client wanted to maneuver the defense into putting certain documents into evidence. So part of what he wanted from me was a video that included a subtle plea not to be thrown into the briar patch of fighting those documents. Worked like a charm.
I'm not that smart but I've learned to ask my smart clients exactly what they want to achieve.
So picture what happens when the defense puts your dvd into their player or when the mediator pops open his laptop and starts the video you offered. Work backwards from that.

Settlement video series: Family photos, look at all of them

Yes, those shorts make you look fat, but the photo shows you at bat, on healthy legs, surrounded by the company softball team. So we're going to consider using the photo for your settlement video.
Or, this is a boring photo, the color balance is bad, and the background is distracting. Photoshop is practically second chair for you on this one. In ninety seconds I can make this a compelling piece of evidence. And this isn't sailing close to the wind. It's just making the facts clear to the viewer.

These, writ small, are the reason attorneys need to have their litigation media producer see all the available family photos, all the home movies, and choose what's useful to the case.
Media illiteracy and confirmation bias keep the lay viewer from making good decisions about family photos. That's where a good producer earns their keep.

Settlement Video series: The raw materials

Your plaintiff lives in a media-saturated world and a settlement video is a powerful digestive enzyme for turning those media bits into support for your case.

One common through-line for a case is that Before, the plaintiff was happy, healthy, beloved, productive, then, undeservedly, the Injury happened. Now their good life is gone; everything from now on is After.

So you need to show Before.

Before, they went to weddings, looking their best. They played softball and got certificates for Best Volunteer. None of this has to be something that the Rules of Evidence would let you put an exhibit sticker on. It's just the accepted view of everyone's Before. In fact, sometimes it's better to let the audience -- the jury, the defense -- fill in the gaps.
You take family photos and video, newspaper articles, awards, diplomas, and show a life worth living and a valued community and family member. Everyone has unflattering photos. Those aren't part of the settlement narrative of Before. Friends and family tell us onscreen about Before. (Getting a good recording of their impressions is a very difficult process that needs to be invisible to the audience. It's taken me decades to learn how to do this.)

The other two elements in this through-line are the Injury and After.

Media of the Injury may be sparse but make sure you collect it all. Medical images, family media, press, objects associated with the Injury. Did they keep their cast, signed by everyone who wishes the plaintiff well? Anything visible that is associated with the Injury is raw material.

And After.
You'll discover a lot of After media and you can create more, exactly in the form needed. This is where I'm asked to record a clear look at the plaintiff's life. Often it's simple and heartrending. They can't walk or speak clearly or go to the bathroom. They're scarred or mis-aligned. Their food is unpalatable goo, pushed into a shocking hole in their stomach.

Occasionally there are invisible deficits like brain injuries. Later in this series I'll have more to say about how to present these, but one approach is apophastic. Friends tell us onscreen what the plaintiff could do before and can't do now.

Your theory of the case, precedents, your training and sympathies, all that is invisible. Luckily, you have the visible raw materials of existing media, objects, and media that you create.

Settlement Video series: When to start planning for it

Simple, just before the initial interview with a potential client.
I missed a chance to save my client thousands and get some irresistible footage because they let family members go back to Asia without getting them on tape.
Several months earlier, another client had me shoot a second look at their plaintiff in rehab and I caught some crucial evidence of progress. It changed her advocacy theory.
Still another client used video, that he'd ordered prospectively, in a discovery dep where photos just wouldn't have made his point.
Make your media case plan a natural part of your intake interview. Maybe the busy litigator doesn't have to ask about family photos and home video. Your assistant or your summer intern could go over that. But someone needs to tell the plaintiff to hang on to photos, don't erase those memory cards, don't let the basement flood the boxes of wedding photos where the plaintiff looks winsome and healthy, don't let the local network affiliate lose the footage of the wreck.
It's going to be a while before discovery deps; maybe you want to get fresh recollections, with fresh emotions, on tape.

On my other website, Modern-Media.com, look at the outline for a media case plan. (Yes, I have another website. I hope you don't feel that somehow cheapens what we're sharing here.)
Modern Media: Media Case Plan

The media case plan covers the gamut of litigation media, but is perfectly on point for settlement video.
It's never too early to plan, though I would swear on a more-likely-than-not basis, that it can sometimes be too late.