Regardless how large your trial may be,
saving your client a little money is usually a good thing -- at least when it
doesn't come at the cost of compromised quality (or malpractice). Here are a
few possible ways to reduce some of your trial costs.
Joint Trial Exhibits
Many courts appreciate
(and some require) parties to agree upon and submit a set of Joint Trial
Exhibits. A good place to start would be the deposition exhibits – particularly
if they have been sequentially numbered from the outset, rather than starting
over with each deponent. Here – let me repeat that: Sequentially number your deposition exhibits. Even if you have a
few gaps due to depos being taken simultaneously, it will save a lot of time
and trouble later. A good database programmer can work with just about anything
you hand them, but dealing with duplicate numbered exhibits, then adding in
some with letters just makes it more difficult. I would also recommend always using
numbers instead of letters, as it can be difficult in a courtroom to understand whether
you’re asking for exhibit “B,” “D,” “P,” or “T.” Unless you’re experienced with
using the phonetic alphabet, your court reporter will not be happy.
Printing costs are also shared, and
duplications are less likely. Any exhibit stickers may be placed
electronically, and then saved/printed with Joint Trial Exhibit Bates numbers,
making it an easy task for all to quickly get to the same page.
Stipulation can save
a great deal of trial time, since you won’t have to go through the
authentication process for every exhibit.
Trial Presentation Equipment
Sharing a projector
and screen happens almost always. In fact, I have only seen parties each bring
in and use their own separate systems once in my entire trial presentation career
of nearly 20 years. That was a “unique” experience, to say the least. Opposing
counsel had two projectors, two screens, and two trial techs – one for
exhibits, and the other for video. Our side just had me using TrialDirector,
which looked and worked out better.
In any event, most courtrooms won’t have
the extra space to set up two of everything, so it is a good idea to breach
this topic with opposing early on. In fact, our standard trial support estimate
includes the following language: “Presentation
equipment costs would normally be split between parties. In some cases, other
costs and services may be shared between parties.” A complete courtroom
setup can run $1000 or more weekly, so cutting this cost in half is a
no-brainer. Since I am often asked, I
will also mention that a properly installed system will NOT allow opposing
counsel or their trial tech to see anything you are doing, unless you are presenting
evidence to the jury and/or Court.
Even when you're fortunate enough to land
in a "wired" courtroom, there are still some things you may need, and
it is always advisable to have your trial tech inspect and test it out before
trial. You may need extra cables, a speaker set, monitors or even an ELMO. You
will also need to determine if both HDMI and VGA are available, and which will
work better with your laptops.
Neutral Exhibit Access
Full-service trial
prep and presentation support can run $10,000 or more per week. Although this
isn't always necessarily the ideal arrangement, cutting costs by 50% can often
be a quick and easy way of getting a client or insurance carrier on board. What
it does mean is that someone must be a gatekeeper to all the evidence. Giving
the keys to the kingdom to some unscrupulous trial tech working for both sides
could be a direct ethical conflict, and might also be considered malpractice.
For this type of arrangement to work
properly, only one party (usually the original hiring party) will be able to
discuss work-product and privileged information with the trial tech. Opposing
counsel will have only neutral access to display a desired exhibit upon verbal request
during the trial. In trials where both
parties need to prepare exhibits or deposition impeachments in a confidential
or privileged manner, two trial techs should be used – one for each party.
Your Trial Presentation Consultant should
be able to discuss these options with you, and should also be experienced and willing
to assist in brokering a cost-sharing arrangement with your opponent.