By: Review Staff at Gulf Coast Business Review
April 16, 2009



Jack Stein took his skills in graphics and photography and turned them into a successful enterprise, Trial Exhibits Inc., a Tampa company which provides presentation materials for attorneys in court among other services.
 

Trial Exhibits Inc. has taken lifeless courtroom flip charts and chalkboards and replaced them with video and full-color graphics.

During the 1989 fatal boating accident case involving St. Petersburg chiropractor Dr. William LaTorre, graphics expert Jack Stein noticed that a firm was providing the plaintiffs with special displays for their lawyers to use in the courtroom.

So Stein called noted Tampa defense attorney Barry Cohen, who was representing LaTorre, and offered to do the same for him and reconstruct the accident visually.

Cohen accepted, won the case and that seven months of work was the catalyst that created Trial Exhibits Inc., a Tampa company Stein founded in 1989.

Trial Exhibits now has 18 employees and does work all over the country. Besides Tampa, the company has offices in Orlando, Miami and Atlanta.

Its interactive video service stands in stark contrast to the chalkboards and black-and-white flip charts that attorneys used in courtrooms for years.

Today, Trial Exhibits provides flat screen monitors for the judge, jury and both attorneys and broadcasts full-color graphics and video on them.

An expert witness, for example, can walk the jury through an illustration or video; zoom in; rotate or highlight an image; show a document on one half of the screen and a video on the other; and draw on the screen with a light pencil, similar to TV football color commentator John Madden.

In fact, Stein calls it the “John Madden effect.”

“We’ve come a long way in 20 years,” Stein says. “We’ve all seen this on TV, so we’re not that amazed with it anymore.”

Although the technology can be impressive, Trial Exhibits seeks to project a professional tone in the presentations. It doesn’t want the graphics to overwhelm.

“What you want the jury to focus on is your case,” Stein says. “There needs to be an ease of presentation.”

So Trial Exhibits tries to remember the jury’s attention span. It is sitting for eight hours a day. The attorney wants them to read a document. So Trial Exhibits may zoom in and highlight areas of the document on a screen as the attorney is speaking.

Working for others
Stein earned a degree in graphic design and a minor in photography at the University of West Virginia and began working for an engineering firm as its graphics director after college.

After that, we worked for a defense contractor in Saudi Arabia before launching his entrepreneurial career with Trial Exhibits.

The company represents both plaintiffs and the defense. Early on in the business, defense cases didn’t want to use the service for fear of looking too wealthy. But that changed as the graphics became more common in the courtroom.

“They didn’t want to look like they had deep pockets,” Stein says. “What we find is that people are used to seeing these. They are on legal shows and medical shows.”

There are about 50 competing companies in this industry and a majority are small mom-and-pop firms. Because of its four offices, Trial Exhibits is able to cover the east coast of the United States, from Mississippi to New Hampshire, although it gets requests from all over the country.

For example, it has done a lot of case presentation work involving Hurricane Katrina damage in Louisiana and other hurricanes. There was 22 linear miles of damage from Katrina. It also does a number of medical malpractice cases, on the plaintiff and defendant sides. Trial Exhibits has a certified medical illustrator on staff.

Stein says he does not find working with attorneys difficult.

“I’m sure some would disagree with me,” he says. “But you have to understand their personality and the stress they are under. To be successful, an attorney needs multiple cases. They need to multi-task. We respect them and they respect us.”

Besides trial presentations, Trial Exhibits also does mock trails and focus groups; document management; and trial consulting services. The mock trials can help attorneys get ready for a trial by anticipating questions and issues. Trial Exhibits can help scan in materials for attorneys to get a case ready for a presentation.

Testing and retesting
It is crucial that the graphics come up and work instantly, or the credibility of a case could be damaged. Or worse, the client may lose the case.

That’s why Trial Exhibits builds backup systems into its presentation setups. It even brings backup bulbs for projectors.

The staff tapes down and covers hundreds of feet of electric cables. It tests and retests the graphics and video. A staff member with a “switcher” monitor sits in the courtroom and controls the video and graphics on all the screens so everyone is seeing the right thing at the right time.

“It’s very important that everything work perfectly,” Stein says. “I’ve sat in many a trial and have seen competitors at work. The attorney asks for a video and it crashes. The jury is looking at him. This was supposed to be a smoking-gun video.”

He adds: “When we go in, we know we only have one chance in the courtroom.”

It is a business that calls for quick turnarounds and availability. Stein is available all hours of the day. The staff understands that it is a 24/7 business and clients have the cell phone numbers of the staff, including Stein’s.

“We have a staff that is very flexible,” he says. “The needs of the client are No. 1.”

Clients may be scanning documents in on a Friday afternoon and call Trial Exhibits at 4 p.m. for a trial Monday.

“We do a large amount of rush jobs,” Stein says.

Trial Exhibits hopes that a job done well will mean another chance to work with that client and referrals to other firms.

“It’s not about chasing money,” Stein says. “It’s about providing a quality product.”

And part of that involves re-investing in the business at times, getting technology that is better and faster. That’s one of the company’s biggest challenges, keeping up with changing technology, Stein says. He has assigned staff members to continue to research this area.

But Trial Exhibits is careful not to overspend. It is debt-free, Stein says.

Trial Exhibits likes its East Coast base and wants to solidify it. It is looking ahead and planning new offices outside Washington and in Charlotte, N.C. It sees plenty of business in the east and does not feel the need to grow into the Midwest or out West.

“We’re more about providing this service for a reasonable price,” Stein says.

Stein’s biggest CEO lesson is learning to lead by example. If a client needs a photograph, Stein is willing to pick up a camera and get the shot.

“My degree is in graphic design and photography,” he says. “I have no MBA. I lead by example. I come from West Virginia. We don’t use titles. If they need a photo, I’ll do it. It’s not for morale. It’s a team approach.”