Criminal defense counsel use mitigation packages to induce empathy when negotiating better outcomes. Smart lawyers use Visual Mitigation Packages to engage the decision-maker intellectually and emotionally.
Leverage our team’s +75-years experience in criminal defense trial lawyering and visual persuasion to visually package your next mitigation package.
A professionally produced Visual Mitigation Package (VMP) leverages the power of visual communication to show and tell your client’s story by turbocharging the impact of your client’s strongest supporting evidence.
VMPs are persuasive vehicles to tell your client’s compelling and empathetic human-centric story and place the crime into the broader context of his or her life.
Unconstrained by written media alone, VMPs supplement your plea negotiations, preliminary hearing/grand jury/Article 32 hearings, trial case-in-chief, and pre-sentencing reports.
Video presentations are the gold standard for presenting a lot of visual and aural information quickly and efficiently. Video immerses the viewer in your client’s story far more effectively than a written brief.
Interviews, video evidence, and animations can only be captured or presented in this medium. Adding production value enhancements like motion to static images, tightly scripted voiceover narration, diverse visual media, and scene changes every few seconds enriches the viewing experience.
This documentary-style production submission to the district attorney’s office preceded a reduced charge plea negotiation on behalf of a young man accused of multiple strongarm robberies. The supervising assistant DA commented, “this is well done and impressive, like watching a Dateline episode.”
For the right client and case, this approach gives trial counsel a prime opportunity to tell the client’s complete story, enabling decision-makers to justify a more favorable outcome for the client.
Packaged or live PowerPoint presentation are an excellent mediums to tell your client’s story. For the producer, PowerPoint accommodates fast and easy editing, content reordering, animated effects, and insertable video and animations.
Conventional interactive PowerPoint presentations enable the viewer to pause on a slide, view all slides simultaneously, and print for the record. PowerPoint shows are also easily converted to self-running video presentations.
In this case, trial counsel presented this visual mitigation presentation to a Texas Grand jury on behalf of his client who was accused of felony battery while using a firearm during a domestic dispute. This photographic reenactment combined with to-scale placement of the individuals and ballistics trajectories convinced the Jury to deliver a “no bill” decision based on no criminal mens rea, resulting in all charges being dropped.
A Marine Corps Lance Corporal confessed four times during a 12-hour interrogation by NCIS special agents that he shot his friend in the head at his friend’s quarters. At his Article 32 hearing, the defense produced several mitigation graphics demonstrating why the accused’s confessions were false and the actual manner of death was suicide.
This video describes how the defense successfully convinced the Investigation Officer to recommend all charges and specifications be dropped.
“I have worked with Jim Gripp for almost thirty years and he just keeps getting better! Jim is masterful at conveying themes, storylines, and perspectives on how one should view the evidence through the graphics he creates. Jim is particularly gifted with intellectual property matters where he reduces technical concepts into easy-to-understand graphics that jurors quickly embrace. Jim is tireless and he produces valuable work product time and time again. I highly recommend Jim.”
“It is the less tangible services that you provide, including your insightful consultation and concepts, and your team-member approach, that make you stand out from your competitors and keep me coming back to Legal Arts.”
“I believe that your early-on involvement in this case was the key to the development of demonstrative exhibits that would have been extremely effective in trial. However, as it turned out, they provided the defense team with the added confidence to negotiate with strength to realize a settlement amount that represented a tiny fraction of the original demand.”
“I thought a 2D-diagram of the accident scene was the perfect solution until your consultant recommended a 3D version. Doing so conclusively showed that plaintiff’s story was inconsistent and unreliable. After showing your work to opposing counsel, it motivated them to visit the accident scene, and to immediately settle the case for no payment whatsoever by my client. Thanks for the great ideas and execution. Both sides were impressed with the quality, clarity, and effectiveness of your exhibits.”
“I would like to thank you for your help during this matter. The mediator was specifically quite complimentary about the PowerPoint/video presentations and commented that ‘you guys did a lot of work.’ I believe they were part of a very successful defense presentation that had a significant impact on the results obtained at the mediation. You put in a lot of work, including weekend activity, and it was greatly appreciated. Our carrier is very happy and that the confidential settlement was an amount that was significantly less than the demand.”
“The lead attorney said that the work that [graphics consultant Jim Gripp] is doing is ‘elite’ work (never heard that one before in my 21 years doing this!) and ‘way better than anything else they experienced!!”
“I always felt the quality of your work, your creativity, accessibility, and responsiveness were above reproach.”
“First, I would like to thank all of you for your outstanding work product in the Cahill electric shock matter. Without your quality services and efforts, there is no way that SDG&E would have been successful in obtaining such an outstanding verdict.”
“Your demonstrative advice and assistance were so helpful in turning a complex case into a simple one. We also marveled at your complete evening/early morning responses to our last-minute requests. Finally, there was no doubt Jim’s assistance in observing and commenting on my ‘mock’ opening helped crystalize several themes and methods of presentation for the entire case.”
“I wanted to let you know that we received Judge Lewis’s tentative decision in this matter today. We prevailed on all issues. Thanks to Jim and your entire team for their excellent help. Your work, which was not only very creative but also timely and on budget, was invaluable in clearly explaining some very complicated factual and legal issues in an extremely important, high stakes case. You will be hearing from me next time I need demonstrative aids.”
“The professionals at Legal Arts are and were an extremely talented and creative group in helping the trial lawyers achieve our goals and their teamwork and dedication and commitment to doing whatever it took, including all night work sessions with quality and quick turn-around time made them a vital part of the trial team.”
“The trial went well! The Chronology of Events exhibit was placed right in front of the Judge during my opening statement and he followed it closely which really helped put the matter in sequence and perspective. After the Plaintiff was testifying for half a day the judge looked at him and his attorney and said, ‘you better settle this case’ and we did very favorably to ACE. Thanks to you and your team for all your hard work!”
“I’m pleased to tell you that we obtained a Plaintiff’s verdict in this case in excess of $3.3 million… the exhibits were so accurate that the defense could not question the foundation for any [after-market automotive parts] component depicted in the illustrations. Your work on this case was instrumental in us obtaining this result.”
“This is truly an outstanding presentation for a well-deserved Medal of Honor upgrade for Captain Pipes I only wish we had more information when the recommendation for the original Silver Star was made. Thanks for the interactive presentation and especially thank you for your effort on behalf of Captain Pipes and thereby the men of Bravo Company [Khe Sanh].”