"The Expert's Challenge: Explaining Technical Matters, Simply."

One of the most challenging things for an expert witness to do is explaining highly complicated ideas to layman on the jury. For example, most jurors are not scientific experts in pharmaceutical design, or corrosion rates of pressurized metal pipelines. So how can an expert witness effectively communicate to a jury a complicated idea that borders on esoteric for most of the population? Ken Lopez, founder of A2L Consulting, wrote a terrific article offering some solid methodologies for expert witnesses facing this challenge, much of which is posted below.

Very often, trial attorneys in complex cases need to explain extremely difficult and elusive scientific concepts to jurors who are not well versed in science. The lawyer's job is to convey the science correctly to the jury so that they can make a rational decision - yet not to bury the jury under a blizzard of scientific terms and concepts that they will never understand.

The answer is to use visuals in the form of photographs, schematic diagrams, animation, timelines, demonstrative evidence, document call outs or whatever is suited to the situation, and to explain them in terms that jurors who are not specialists in the scientific subject can understand.

Analogies (in other words, what is something like?), contrasts (how is something different from something else?), and simple definitions (what are the components of an object? how is it used?) are very useful tools for the trial lawyer.

As Jan D'Arcy wrote in 1998 in Technically Speaking, "Many scientific subjects are hard to describe; they can be difficult to see, touch, measure or imagine. A presenter should find ways to illuminate a concept in known terms with the least amount of distortion. . . . Comparisons and contrasts are two of the best ways to translate your information clearly to your audience. Similes, metaphors, and analogies are comparisons that can often lead to amazing insights."

As Matthew Weinberg, CEO of the scientific consulting firm The Weinberg Group notes, "Successful litigation relies upon a strong science story.  An expert who can explain the science easily and clearly makes a difference.  Juries want to understand the science and can be helped by an expert who makes it interesting and believable."

The entire article can be found here.