Our goal was to use pictures to enlarge the distance between our auditors and the joint venture entity. While you can make the same point in writing, the impact is not the same. Judges spend their lives looking at mostly boring copy. Adding a bit of color to their lives will not only get their attention, it will help you make your point. I have been to several summary judgment arguments only to find the judge looking at my graphics while she grilled the other side on my strong points.
Timelines are as effective in a summary judgment brief as they are in trial.
In the same accounting case, we added a chronology to help reinforce the point that our audit came so far after the wrongdoing took place that discovering it would have been useless. Without question, we could have made the point through the written portion of the brief, and we did. The picture added interest, and it clarified the issue as no words could. In a recent case involving a leaky slurry wall, we wanted to show the mediator how we thought it could be fixed. The point of the animation was to show how the alleged seepage problem could be solved through grouting.