Demonstratives: Pharmaceutical Illustrations
Guide to Developing Pharmaceutical Illustrations for Your Litigation Proceedings
Common litigation involving pharmaceutical, medical device companies, and medical malpractice include: patent infringement disputes, antitrust lawsuits, mass tort, products liability, personal injury, and criminal cases. The stakes are high in the trillion-dollar biotech industry.
What are the biggest challenges in pharmaceutical litigation?
The biggest challenge facing the trial team in the courtroom is science. Pharmaceutical cases are almost all about teaching the science to the audience and less about the law. Working closely with experts when preparing demonstrative evidence becomes an essential part of the case strategy because their testimony is always complex in nature. It is also important to tailor your presentations to your audience and adjust the content to their level of understanding. Having experienced graphic designers that can act as a bridge between highly scientific experts and a jury that likely do not have any expertise in the relevant fields, will ensure they are taught at their level.
What place do Technology Tutorials have in pharmaceutical litigation?
As technologies increase in complexity and because Judges don’t always have the necessary background in biology, chemistry, electrical and engineering, “Technology Tutorials” are increasingly more important to teach them the science. Some Judges require a deadline for the submission of a “Technology Tutorial” around the same time of claim construction in patent cases. The parties can submit separately or jointly a DVD that should focus on the background of technology at issue and should not be used for argument. The format may vary, but typically is a PowerPoint slide presentation converted to video that will play automatically and is narrated by a voice-over professional or expert.
Tech tutorials likely don’t have the benefit of directly impacting the opinion of the Court because they are not argumentative. However, a well-polished presentation that clearly and simply teaches the science and technology will leave a lasting impact of the Judge.
What is the difference between 2D animation and 3D?
3D medical or pharmaceutical animations can bring to life components of the human body that cannot be seen to the naked eye.
Employing a 3D model allows you to show how
a chemical compound is formed...
...how different enzymes affect antibodies in the blood...
...how a medical device can be screwed into the vertebrae...
...or how bone screws are inserted into bone.
3D models are made using 3D software and the output is an MP4 file that can be pasted into a PowerPoint slide. 3D is much more laborious and involves preparation. It is time consuming because of the rendering time it involves and requires your designer to work closely with your experts and have access to relevant materials to ensure the model is to scale and accurate so it will hold up in court.
When can you use interactive medical slides?
An Interactive (or hyperlinked) slide is a slide that has electronic links embedded in the boxes that allow you to jump to a section of your PowerPoint and within a document or set of documents. The advantage of interactive slides is that the presenter can explain the science in whatever order they want. For instance, they can jump to a section in response to questions from the Judge or skip portions of the background explanation altogether if the Judge already understands it and focus on what still needs to be taught.
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