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Continued... Page 8 > Expert Witness at Trial

The most effective way for advertisements to break through the defenses of the consumers is to use specially selected images designed to stimulate the ìsubrational impulses and appetitesî of the general public. For most ads, the emotional appeal and the greatest potential for persuasiveness occurs in the visual component of the advertisement. This is done because visual communication is better suited to the more primal levels of the brain. The appropriate visual image then connects the product in the ad with the promise of gratification of the summoned motive. The visual image is the stealth bomber seeking to invade the mental territory of the consumer.

In the context of the courtroom, the trial lawyer must also select images which will deeply penetrate the subconscious minds of the jury, effectively carrying the message of the expert witness along with it. Prior to the expert ever appearing in the courtroom, the lawyer should have spent hours with the expert discussing available material to drive the necessary points home.

The Search For Compelling Visual Evidence To Supplement Expert Testimony

At my first meeting with any given expert, I will go to their office and after we have discussed the important parts of the case, ask them to look through all the books and materials available in their office to see what illustrations, drawings or photographs are available to describe the processes at issue in the case. For example, when I am visiting a surgeon who performed a cervical fusion, I will ask him to pull out all of his textbooks that illustrate the surgical techniques used and the anatomical defects which made the surgery necessary. If another expert is talking about any kind of statistical proof, I will have a graphic artist reduce the expert's foundation information to a striking, colorful graph. I will also search out all possible sources of other visual evidence in books and publications within the field.

By the time any expert I use is ready to step in the courtroom, I will have models, diagrams, photographs and videotapes available to illustrate every portion of that expert's testimony. Like the TV news, I do not want more than a few seconds of ìtalking head timeî to go by before some kind of visual evidence is used to illustrate points in the testimony.

Don't forget about the effect of point-counterpoint in presenting an expert. Never let your expert leave the stand without having her comment on the opinions offered by the other side's expert who will testify on the same subject. Many times, you can score as many points by the effectiveness of your attacks on the other side's case as you can by affirmatively presenting the strengths of your own case. George Bush proved this in 1988 when under the guidance of the late Lee Atwater, he sought to ìstrip the bark off' Michael Dukakis by a strong negative campaign. The repeated negative attacks on Dukakis caused George Bush's standing in the polls to rise as much or more as a positive presentation of his own agenda.

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