It has been quite some time since I posted anything here. Apparently all it took to drag me back was a term that has annoyed me for years: trial tech. I despise it, not because there is anything wrong with the technology side of this business, but because of what the term says about how the role has changed. When I first started doing this work, the person sitting in the hot seat was more often called a trial consultant, litigation consultant or presentation consultant. That was not just marketing fluff. There was an expectation that you knew the case, understood the evidence and contributed something beyond knowing how to operate the software. You worked with the case team, helped organize the presentation, gave opinions and used your courtroom experience to help make the case easier to understand. As more people entered the field, the market became increasingly competitive. In my experience, some companies competed by lowering the cost of the person in the courtroom. Along with that ...
Trial consulting, litigation support, and the occasional opinion. Not necessarily in that order.