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.