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Getting to 'yes' with the video settlement documentary: most personal injury cases settle before trial, but the amount and timing of an offer are never certain. A well-prepared video settlement documentary can eliminate some of the guesswork.

Article Excerpt
The mission of plaintiff counsel might be defined as converting raw facts into an equitable recovery. For several reasons, this is often best accomplished long before trial.

Facts that form the basis of most personal injury lawsuits--like the details of a plaintiff's pain, loss of bodily functions, and grief--are difficult for most people to discuss, even in intimate settings. Courtrooms, with their formality, ritual, and adversarial atmosphere, can so intimidate witnesses that they cannot testify adequately about the essential elements of a plaintiff's case.

Also, complex personal injury cases, if adequately prepared, can take years to get to trial. This unfairly penalizes plaintiffs, whose financial needs are often desperate because of the expenses associated with catastrophic injuries.

Finally, the outcome of a jury trial, even in the best of cases, is never certain. Through preparation and skilled presentation tan eliminate some of this uncertainty, but a verdict for the plaintiff is never assured.

What can plaintiff attorneys use to communicate sufficient information about the facts of a case to persuade a defendant to pay adequate compensation for the plaintiff's injuries--well before trial? In many cases, a video settlement documentary is the perfect tool.

In 1979, my law practice began to develop the video settlement documentary. Since then, we have produced close to 100 documentaries costing between $5,000 and $50,000. Most of these cases involved significant injuries or death; only about 5 percent failed to settle before trial for amounts near the top of the range of settlement figures we had set for them. And some cases in that 5 percent settled after trial started. (1)

The printed settlement brochure has long been useful in what former ATLA President Melvin Belli once called the plaintiff's "rush to disclosure." Today, however, plaintiff counsel can take the offensive with an effective video presentation, a far more powerful communications tool. The video settlement documentary can transmit quickly and clearly a vast array of facts--many of which cannot be conveyed either photographically or through the printed word.

The video documentary is not prepared for the judge or jury, but rather for pretrial viewing by the defense attorney, insurance claims adjuster, or members of a claims committee. These "decision-makers" ultimately will determine how much a settlement offer should be.

The documentary lets the plaintiff present his or her case--or...

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