After being on hold and listening to elevator music covers that had lobotomized some of my favorite childhood songs, the receptionist finally patched me through to the managing partner’s phone line. His firm was scheduled to go to trial in a month, and I was following up on our previous discussion to help boost their efforts with some necessary trial presentation tech support. “Hello?” He answered. After some introductory small talk, I brought up the case and next steps in the trial preparation process. I could hear the fingers on his free hand tapping the desk as I spoke. Then he cut in. “We’re all set.” He said. “My law partner’s kid is good with computers. So, we are going to use him to bring up exhibits in court.” Apparently the “kid” was an 18 year-old, recent high school graduate with a passion for video games, who possessed some rudimentary website development skills.

Now, I may not be a meteorologist with a direct pipeline to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association; but I can sometimes forecast a disaster.  

It makes for an interesting case study when I see certain legal professionals, who value and zealously market their own experience, balk when it comes down to hiring someone to fill an important role in a trial with high stakes.  They frequently choose price over experience as the overriding arbiter.  This happens even when the client can clearly afford it; the hire’s resume seems like it is only half a sentence long; and when the need for proficiency and competence should not be compromised. 

Let me just say at the outset that I certainly understand that, as trial attorneys, it’s your risk and prerogative as to where and how to spend money and allocate resources.  It’s your case.  You may even have a plan to settle on the courthouse steps during the first day of trial, rendering any need for presentation support moot.  That said, if that calculation doesn’t pan out and you are forced to go to trial, there are all sorts of residual (and oftentimes exponential) costs that will be incurred by not being prepared.  We all make similar kinds of purchasing decisions (albeit not with the same level of gravity), weighing the pros and cons, in our work and private lives.  So, it got me thinking.   What is the tangible value of our experience?  How can we better communicate it to our prospective clients?  

Using observations of trial attorney clients, as well as my own experience as a veteran trial presentation tech and consultant, below are some techniques and examples that go beyond the traditional resume bullet points about education, work chronology, accolades, etc.  These marketing tips will help prospects make better decisions by showing why deeper experience matters to them.

Detailed Testimonials – Testimonials are an immensely effective way to market how happy clients are with you and your services.  They’re powerful expressions of gratitude and endorsement for a job well done.  The problem that I see is that most of them are too generic in nature.  Change the name and they could apply to almost anyone in any industry.  “Joe did a great job for us on our project.  We’re very happy with his skill and work ethic.  Our company looks forward to working with him again.”  Um, OK.  What the heck did you do that was so wonderful, Joe?  What makes you better than the ten other people looking for my business?  My recommendation, when a client is gracious enough to provide a glowing endorsement, is for them to give it some context and detail.  This is an opportunity for you to provide your prospective clients with a window into how your experience matters.  Show them that your experience translates into unique insight, execution and results.  Here are two examples:

Trial Lawyer Testimonial – “I cannot thank Attorney John Doe enough.  His deep compassion helped me navigate the challenges of the case, after my catastrophic injury.  His adept advocacy, work ethic and courtroom skill helped the jury see the negligence that led to my harm.  In the end, they came back with a $7 million verdict!  Thank you!  Thank you!  Thank you!”

Trial Presentation Tech Testimonial – “Joe is an elite trial tech.  He worked tirelessly to edit last minute clip designations for playback of our expert witness. We showed the video trial testimony in court the same day, which ran seamlessly.  The result was a $25 million verdict for our client.  Thank you again for being an irreplaceable member of our trial team.” 

Both of these testimonials communicate high level skill set, work ethic, and experience that produced great outcomes.   However, not all clients are able to express their gratitude and endorsement with precise language. I have lots of clients who say they’re more than delighted to give me a reference; but they would rather have me write it and send it back to them for review and approval.  I actually prefer this option, as I can better articulate my own approach to solving problems and working through the trial process than can my clients.  The challenge is to try and provide some level of specificity without rewriting Tolstoy’s War and Peace.  Give it texture; but make it concise enough so that people actually read it.

Experience Positioning –  Many firms have positioning statements.  These are meant to communicate points of contrast between themselves and their competitors.   They also apply to products and services.  What makes us different?  What makes us better than our competitive set?   What makes us more compatible partners with our target market?  A firm’s positioning statement is usually aligned with the experience of its attorneys and staff.  If you’re working for a medical malpractice defense firm, chances are that you might (hopefully) have someone who has defended a medmal case in the past.  In the trial presentation tech consulting business, for example, I find that there are several types of skills and experiences that draw people into that role.  First, they may have a strong background in computer science (whether it’s in the form of formal education or general interest).  Second, they may have come from the legal field.  They may be lawyers or paralegals who assumed the “hot seat” duties (willingly or not)  at their respective firms.  Some are creatives, who became trial techs after they started developing PowerPoint mediation presentations and/or settlement videos for their law clients.  Although the job of a trial tech requires a baseline skill set, each of us brings our own unique experience and angle to the table.  Given the competitive landscape, you need to see where you fit into the mix and establish your niche. Sometimes it’s an obvious distinction, such as the specific clientele that you service.  You may have a unique specialty, such as class action appellate work or veteran benefits law.  Other professional positionings may be a bit more nuanced in an industry area that might be incorrectly viewed as a commodity by many of its prospects.  That’s when you need to go a bit deeper to see not just how you’re different, but why it will matter to your potential clients. 

So, using my business as an example, when a prospective client asks me what makes my trial presentation consulting services different – and I realize that this may seem a bit self-serving (sorry…not sorry) – I let them know about my marketing background.  I was a marketing manager and part of a product development team on a few well-known consumer brands.  We helped one product line in particular grow 55% in a single year.  To me, being a trial presentation technology consultant is all about marketing.  It’s all about your communication strategy to influence decision-makers so that it leads to a favorable verdict.  Although they’re important elements to that end, computer technology, creative graphics, and the legal framework (through which the message is conveyed) are all marketing tools.  Think about it this way, you have at least two different products that are placed in front of the judge, jury, or arbitrators.  There’s the Plaintiff/Government and Defense.  Unless there’s some comparative negligence, they have to choose (“buy”) one of those products off the shelf.  As far as my opinion on having another lawyer do the job, if you want to pay someone your attorney rates to do a marketing function, be my guest.  That is my positioning.  That’s how I leverage my own experience to appeal to trial attorneys like you and your firm.  To use a football analogy, a positioning statement is like drawing up an offensive play so that your wide receivers can get separation from the defensive backs.  It is more likely that they will then be seen and available, able to successfully complete the play and score points for the team.

Novice Contrast – Differentiating yourself from other professionals and firms is one thing; but how do you communicate your value when there’s such a disparity in experience and price?  How do you compare yourself to the novice upstart?  Luckily, lawyers don’t have to worry about competing against any random kid with a laptop.  There are well-known educational milestones, standards and licensure policies that need to be achieved and complied with before you can even be able to put your player piece onto the game board. 

However, who you associate with and hire also affects how the market perceives you.  Experience also comes with some expectations of acquired wisdom. So, hiring anyone such as a veteran trial tech, expert witness, IT vendor (or anyone you surround yourself with professionally) will reflect that.

Let’s face it, we all started off as wide-eyed, naïve rookies at one point in our careers.  So, I have a lot of empathy for the enthusiastic, amateur cub.  That said, you are doing your reputation, prospective clients (and even the novice competitors who will be in over their head) a disservice by ignoring the wide competency gap.  This also applies to any reliance on in-house talent to fill the trial tech role.  Anyone put in that position needs to be properly trained.  This is especially true in notable or high value cases. 

How difficult can it be?  You ask.  That’s a fair question.   Let me give you a bit of contrast by showing you some samples of what a veteran “hot seater” actually does, and by also comparing those skills with what the novice doesn’t know.  Here are some examples…

Novice Mistakes

• Not knowing court procedure or basic rules of evidence for calling up exhibits
• Using incorrect laptop presentation settings in court
• Not blanking the jury screen(s) during sidebars
• Not backing up files or bringing proper back-up equipment
• Not knowing the trial presentation software well enough
• Leaving exhibits up much too long
• Not doing a courtroom tech walkthrough before trial (download my free courtroom tech walkthrough checklist by clicking this link)

Certain laptop settings are super important in court. One very good trial attorney I know forgot to turn off her screen saver before trial.  She was in the middle of conducting her direct examination of a witness, showing exhibits on the screen.  Some time had elapsed since she had called up her last document… when the laptop’s screen saver suddenly kicked in, projecting her family photo montage to the judge, jury…and everyone else in the courtroom.  It was awkward and embarrassing.  There was a lot of panic and scrambling to shut down this impromptu screening.  It just goes to demonstrate how many small, important details go into being a competent trial tech.

What Veteran Trial Techs Will Do

• They have put in their proverbial 10,000 hours of time doing their job
• A veteran trial tech will pre-empt issues and potential glitches well before any of those things can become problems
• Veterans will insist on a dress rehearsal with the attorney(s) to work out any rustiness in communication and set expectations
• They have a contingency plan for courtroom software and hardware failures
• Project confidence with court-appropriate attire and behavior
• They are usually the first ones into the courtroom during trial, and the last to leave
• They remain “invisible” during court proceedings
• They are part of a larger professional community that facilitates troubleshooting, sets standards and offers creative resources
• Veteran techs have sophisticated insights and techniques as to how to best present evidence
• Experienced techs will bring in the right gear and prep the courtroom for safety (the last thing you want in a courtroom is a slip and fall accident to occur)
• They possess tactical knowledge that is usually only acquired through top-notch mentoring, observation, and/or battle tested experience
• Continuous professional learning and understanding of the latest trends and presentation tech products is a priority
• They have been part of more trials than most attorneys

Experience is a strange asset.  It resides in a locked box on the other side of a firewall, accessible to no one but its owner.    It is unseeable and often unknowable unless it reveals itself in drips of communication or prolonged observation.  The challenge, for those of us who make a living selling it, is that we are often very selective with whom and how we impart it, fearing that some competitor will swoop in and steal our expertise and strategic advantage, then repackage it and sell it as their own.  So, we tend to under-communicate it at-large when marketing ourselves.

The other problem is that the financial metrics that we use to value experience (dollars) are transparent, while our professional experience offering is opaque.   So, it’s difficult to always peg the two together with precision and in a way that the prospect can digest and metabolize.  This can certainly be remedied in many ways with an understanding of an industry’s market research data (e.g., market rates) and a good contract.  However, getting the opportunity to have those expanded discussions about price and worth first starts with creative ways that leverage and communicate the transmissible wealth and benefits of our experience.  Among the best ways to do that are through textured testimonials, positioning statements, and to associate yourself and your firm with quality partnerships.