Lanier Law Firm: Powers of Persuasion
Dueling Slideshows
In closing argument, Lanier again amazed the courtroom with some Mac-enabled sleight-of-hand. “Merck’s lawyers had come up with their own PowerPoint, created with a team of expensive consultants. A critical, intricate part of their argument was contained in one huge slide that built up over the course of hours, with new pockets of information revealed as various points were made.
“Well, while I’m sitting there listening, getting ready to respond, I’m able to reproduce the same slide, note for note, and seamlessly integrate it into my own PowerPoint presentation. And I’m able to make corrections and changes to the presentation my opponent’s put before the jury — because, of course, the facts weren’t presented quite the way I saw them.
“And I’m able to stand up immediately and say to the jury, ‘Okay, let’s pick up where opposing counsel left off. That slide you just saw? Look at what the problems are.’ And we’re able to deconstruct what she spent two and a half hours constructing.
“Later, a number of people in the audience asked me, ‘How did you steal their slide? Who leaked it to you?’ People were stunned that, sitting right there at the counsel table, in front of the judge, the jury, and all creation, I was able to make that complex slide on the fly, and integrate it into my PowerPoint without a hitch. But that’s how easy it is to do things on a Mac.”
Penetrating Juror’s Memories
In a profession usually dominated by an avalanche of words describing labyrinthine legal issues, Lanier is proud to use the tools of Hollywood and Madison Avenue to make his arguments — and to plant them deep in the minds of jurors.
“Sure, I borrow techniques and terminology from movies and advertising,” says Lanier. “I refer to my presentations as storyboards, and I do my best to construct a compelling narrative. I want jurors to be in suspense as to how my story turns out. And I really believe that pictures stick in people’s memories, and evoke more emotional responses. If, say, one of my slides reads, “Decades of Deception,” well, that has two D’s, it’s quite alliterative and all. But if you place that phrase next to an image of a man in a business suit with his fingers crossed behind his back, it becomes visceral, even more meaningful and memorable. Visuals tap into a part of the brain that words themselves do not.”
No Platform Politics
Though utterly devoted to their Mac computers, Lanier’s litigation team collaborates seamlessly with a back-office staff using Windows PCs. “Our business workflow is heavily reliant on databases that run on Microsoft SQL,” says IT Director Rich Martinez. “So our Mac folks use a Citrix portal to access client and case information on those databases. We’re able to isolate the Windows connectivity inside a terminal session within the Mac environment. Yet they have complete and fluent access to every file the back office is creating.
“As for supporting two different platforms, well, I have multiple processes in place for service and repair and catastrophic issues on our PC workstations. But I really don’t have to worry about our Macs — they just keep working.”
Battle-Tested
Now that he’s won these very big cases, Lanier has just a moment to sum up the experience — before running off to make yet another compelling presentation to a gathering of law and media bigwigs: “Obviously, there are a thousand nuances to making your best case at trial. If we hadn’t done the cross-examinations right, we’d have lost. If we hadn’t had good witnesses, we’d have lost. If we hadn’t had good researchers and good documents, we’d have lost.
To go into a fight against a huge company with endless resources — I’d never want to go into that battle without my Mac. Mac didn’t just level the playing field. Mac gave us the advantage.
“But at the end of the day, I would never want to go into a fight against another huge company — an enterprise with endless resources to pay experts, people in-house and out-of-house to do all the creative thinking they want — I’d never want to go into that battle without my Mac.
“Mac didn’t just level the playing field. Mac gave us the advantage. That I can say without a moment’s hesitation.”
