Technology in the Courtroom

Technology in the courtroom is becoming an important part of modern jury trials.  The use of technology in the courtroom can be a subject of debate among trial attorneys and jury consultants.  Some attorneys and jury consultants believe that technology can and should be used to help present a case and a party’s best arguments.  Some attorneys believe that the great trial attorneys from the past did not require the modern technology and if it was good enough for them then it should be good enough for us.

The Foster Law Firm always tries to take advantage of modern technology whenever it is appropriate and helpful.  Courtroom technology can help make a case clear and can be used to present the strongest arguments.  The evidence in a jury trial is often presented to the jury witness by witness.  This means that the evidence is likely not in chronological order.  It also means that some evidence is brought to the jury before other evidence that is required to make sense of the evidence.  Technology can be used to help the jury understand why certain evidence is important and how it relates to other evidence.

Sometimes attorneys blame jurors for not having sufficient “attention spans” to understand the evidence.  This is not fair to the jurors and it is an excuse that attorneys make in order to justify their inability to present a clear and compelling case.  If an attorney regularly has to complain about a jury’s lack of attention then that attorney likely bares some of the responsibility for failing to present a clean, clear and effective case.

If the great trial attorneys from the past had access to modern technology it is very likely that they would take advantage of it.  An attorney that is presenting a case must be a story teller and an effective communicator.  There are more tools available to attorneys to present an effective case than ever before.  If an attorney does not take advantage of them, that is the attorney’s fault, not the jury’s.