Trial presentation software and presentation tools have become a part of many trial attorneys’ lives. Many hearings do not require these tools. But today’s jurors are used to receiving information via videos and graphics. Every trial lawyer has seen the jurors pay close attention to well-crafted charts or photographs of the accident scene displayed on a big screen in the courtroom.

Those of us who lug screens, projectors and laptops to various venues to do presentations or trials have become adept at setting this equipment up and traveling with a few extra batteries and cables.

In Still Using a Screen and Projector: Think Again my friend Stephen Embry suggests it is time for trial lawyers to consider an equipment change, replacing their screen and projector combination with a high definition TV. There are several reasons why this is good advice.

He quotes David Notowitz, founder of the National Center for Audio and Video Forensics, from his appearance on our Digital Edge podcast Best Practices for Audio and Video Evidence: Avoid Mistakes in Court! with several compelling reasons why TV’s are now better. As someone who has now devoted many hours scanning a new county bar presentation venue to calculate screen and projector placement, considering lighting, electrical outlets and whether everyone can see the screen and me while I talk, I agree with his observations as applied to courtrooms.

The good news is this will be a simpler process than the screen and projector, and large screen lightweight TV’s are affordable today.