How Does an Expert Witness Help Create Trial Illustrations?

As a personal injury attorney, while you can have difficulty convincing an insurance adjuster of their insured’s fault or liability for an injury incident during the pre-litigation phase in a case, you at least expect them to have a more profound understanding of various legal constructs in cases like these. The same cannot be said about jurors if a case goes to trial, which is where courtroom demonstratives may come in handy.

While illustrators like ours at Advocacy Digital Media are well-trained in producing trial exhibits that are factually accurate so they’re admissible in court, we don’t only rely on our expertise when creating these demonstratives. Instead, we rely on you as our attorney, client, and others with specialized knowledge in a particular area for their insight. If you’re wondering how an expert witness helps create trial illustrations, we share them below.

Contributing Subject Matter Expertise

Expert witnesses, whether they’re crash reconstructionists for car accident cases, health care professionals for medical malpractice cases, design engineers in product liability cases, forensic accountants, actuaries, etc., have one attribute in common. They have specialized expertise in a particular subject area. Oftentimes, they have such a high level of expertise in an area that it’s impossible for you or an illustrator to fully grasp and even less so for an average juror to do so.

An expert witness can work with you and our illustration team to make complex material more accessible for jurors. In doing this, the imagery, word choices, and depth of content on the demonstratives are most apt to be understandable and thus memorable to the jurors in your client’s case.

Enhanced Chances of Admissibility

As an attorney, you know that not every proposed exhibit gets admitted into evidence at trial. Instead, you’re aware that a judge considers relevancy, accuracy, and other factors when deciding what becomes of it. If you’ve carefully selected your expert witnesses and documented their credentials for the Court, then you know there are fewer chances of objections to their testifying. The same logic applies to trial illustrations.

If it’s evident that your exhibit was produced by professionals who accurately visually conveyed concepts with an expert witness’ guidance, it is more likely to be admissible at trial. The key, as you are aware, is that while containing factually accurate information is important, it’s also important that any visuals created maintain objectivity. This is where collaboration between you as legal counsel, our illustration professionals, and the expert is key.

Expert Witnesses and the Creation of Visuals in Your Client’s Personal Injury Case

When describing the role an expert witness plays in the creation of trail illustrations, some describe it as that of not only a subject matter expert but also a quality assurance filter. They are the ones who decide what information is relevant for forwarding a particular perspective or argument and aid in determining what is most understandable for the audience- jurors.

These experts can also review exhibits and provide their qualified insight as to the accuracy of contents before they get presented at trial. This advance oversight enhances admissibility, thus giving you, as an attorney, more confidence in your ability to attain a successful outcome on behalf of your client.

If you want to better understand the role of an expert witness and how to collaborate with both you and them to make trial illustrations that jurors remember in the deliberation room, reach out to our Advocacy Digital Media team today. Meeting with our team to discuss your need for courtroom exhibits is free.