What is Litigation Visualization?
First of all, let's define what is litigation visualization. Litigation visualization involves visual aids such as charts, diagrams, timelines, animations, and infographics to convey intricate legal information and arguments during legal disputes.
It is an essential aspect of legal design, which aims to make legal information more accessible, understandable, and persuasive to various stakeholders, including judges, arbitrators, clients, and the general public.
The impact of litigation visuals
Litigation involves conveying complex information, arguments, and detailed evidence to judges and arbitrators. The effectiveness of this communication has a significant impact on case outcomes and client satisfaction. It should be a vital aspect of any litigation strategy.
As legal professionals, we are required to explain complex facts, theories, or legal principles, many of which can be hard to grasp through verbal explanations alone. By presenting this information visually, we can provide a clear, concise depiction of our arguments, making it easier for decision-makers to understand and retain the information.
If you want to learn more about the impact of litigation visuals, we asked 100+ litigators about the effects of visuals in complex cases. Here you can take a look of our report.
Persuasive Power of Litigation Visuals
Humans are inherently visual creatures, and visuals can often communicate messages more quickly and memorably than words alone. Besides this, who really wants to read a boring article full of fancy words?😒 Imagine you are forced to read this sentence, which is actually one sentence.
"Article 2(2)(b) of Directive 2000/78 must be interpreted as meaning that a difference of treatment indirectly based on religion or belief, arising from an internal rule of an undertaking prohibiting workers from wearing any visible sign of political, philosophical or religious beliefs in the workplace, may be justified by the employer's desire to pursue a policy of political, philosophical and religious neutrality with regard to its customers or users, provided, first, that that policy meets a genuine need on the part of that employer, which it is for that employer to demonstrate, taking into consideration, inter alia, the legitimate wishes of those customers or users and the adverse consequences that that employer would suffer in the absence of that policy, given the nature of its activities and the context in which they are carried out; secondly, that that difference of treatment is appropriate for the purpose of ensuring that the employer's policy of neutrality is properly applied, which entails that that policy is pursued in a consistent and systematic manner; and, thirdly, that the prohibition in question is limited to what is strictly necessary having regard to the actual scale and severity of the adverse consequences that the employer is seeking to avoid by prohibition that prohibition." (Court of Justice of the EU judgment final paragraph of C-804/18: IX v WABE eV and MH Müller Handels GmbH v MJ.)."
I know you didn't read this. Nor do I. But thanks to our beloved AI white-collar friend ChatGPT🤖, I asked for clearance. ChatGPT answered;
"TL;DR: Companies can ban workers from wearing visible signs of their beliefs at work to maintain neutrality towards customers, as long as it's justified, consistently applied, and necessary to avoid negative consequences."
Much better, thanks. 🫡
So, well-designed litigation visuals can tell a compelling story, highlight key evidence just like we did, and evoke emotional responses, which can strongly influence the audience's perceptions and decisions.
Simplifying Complexity
Visuals can aid in simplifying complex concepts. Many legal cases involve intricate issues that can be challenging for a lay audience (non-legal people) to comprehend. By dividing these complexities into understandable chunks like a Reddit page called "explain like I'm five.", we can ensure that the critical aspects of our arguments are understood, even by those with little to no expertise in the subject.
Imagine you see this contract, and then a person from the future comes to you and shows the second picture.
Better Outcomes and Improved Communication
Using visuals, charts, etc., is easier and faster for judges to understand the case. Well, some of the traditional judges might be hesitant about this "new-school" legal orientation. Still, it's our mission to communicate the importance and impact of legal design by embracing everyone.
Using litigation visuals is time-saving and efficient when explaining the case, and it helps to improve the comprehension of the facts, especially in complicated technical matters such as tax law, corporate and M&A, or contract interpretation.
No topic too complex for clarity
Even if you are working on some serious project, such as data visualization of financial performance or visual summary of the regulatory regime for fintech, there is always a way you can make them more understandable and accessible for everyone.
Creating a visual litigation strategy involves more than simply adding pictures or graphs to your case. It requires a thoughtful approach involving the identification of crucial concepts, selection o appropriate visual formats, and careful execution of the visual design and presentation.
Litigation visuals are just one part of the story. By learning design thinking and legal design principles, we can make the legal process much more bearable and understandable for everyone.
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