Trial Director and VLC Media Player are completely different software programs, but both can play multimedia files. Trial Director is a courtroom presentation program. It has a built-in video and audio player and can also present documents. VLC Player is a video player and can only play videos.
If you are deciding between the two for an upcoming court hearing, here are some factors to consider.
Continue readingBy Claudia Kokot and Joe Wanzala
Published: September 9, 2024
With the newest release of Trial Director version 2023.8.12, you can proactively minimize delays[1] that can happen when large JPG or PDF files are opened in Trial Director’s presentation mode. You can do this through a new, optional, process called batch imaging.
In a recent case, a paralegal used batch imaging to eliminate lag time when she opened a file in presentation mode. She was preparing for trial and one of the exhibits was a 13-page, 10,559 KB, PDF file. The file was made up of high-resolution photographs in the JPG 2000 format. (These kinds of photos are usually seen in radiological, MRI or CAT imaging). She noticed that when she opened the file in presentation mode, it would take several seconds to launch at all and even longer for a new page to appear when navigating from one page to another. Once she batch imaged the file using the newest version of Trial Director, the file launched instantaneously when it was opened in presentation mode and there was no lag time when moving from page to page.
Continue readingExhibit Presenter is a PDF exhibit court presentation program like Trial Director but at a fraction of the cost. The Exhibit Presenter website[1] states “it was created for attorneys and paralegals to show PDF exbibits in court in an easy and powerful way”. This is a very user-friendly program with a minimal learning curve. NOTE: You should have all the PDF exhibits prepared in one central location on the laptop to be used in court or on an external drive.
Once you open the program, open the PDF exhibit you want to present. Then, select any of the presentation tools such as callout, highlight, circle, or underline, and click and drag accordingly with your mouse.
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Why Use TRIAL DIRECTOR?
Courtroom technology is a boon for attorneys conducting courtroom presentations. Perhaps its greatest advantage is that the technology allows you to present your theory of the case in a visual way. Research and experience show us that having relevant graphics is more persuasive than words alone.[1] A principal challenge for the defense in criminal cases is that we are reactive to the government. We have to adjust to how the prosecution builds its case in chief when putting on our defense. Trial Director’s[2] greatest benefit for defense practitioners is that it allows them to add a visual component to their cross examination on the fly. This feature is critical, as more often than not we will be unsure how a witnesses’ testimony will come in on direct, and what we may need to focus on during cross-examination. To illustrate how Trial Director can be a useful tool for CJA panel attorneys and Federal Defenders, we will review a real case I worked on, United States v. Lucero, No. 19-10074 (9th Cir. 2021). This trial involved explaining complex scientific and regulatory information to a jury. Let me give you an example of how we used Trial Director and visuals to assist with the cross-examination of witnesses – and then tied it together in closing. I served as the “hot seat” operator, pulling up and annotating exhibits under the attorneys’ direction, as I describe in detail below.
Continue readingPreparing exhibits for trial or court hearings, though not glamorous, is an essential task in the practice of courtroom litigation. Depending on the volume and type of exhibits, this necessary task can quickly turn tedious if you must print each exhibit, affix a physical sticker, fill out the exhibit and case information by hand, then scan and submit the stickered exhibit. In the heat of trial where last minute changes take place frequently, it is easy to make mistakes. However, with the right type of technology, such as Adobe Acrobat Pro (or Standard), this process can be done more smoothly, help reduce opportunities for making errors, and done more quickly than the old school method of stickers and paper If you have Adobe Acrobat*, we suggest considering using digital (electronic) exhibit stickers for your next case.
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