We see and hear a lot of things about lawsuits and trials every day as we watch movies and television. While these stories are often dramatic, they may not be providing you with the correct picture of how your litigation process will actually work. A trial following a serious injury is complex and requires your lawyer to prove that the party that caused your injury acted negligently. As such, you may see that your injury lawyer and expert witnesses are using visual aids to explain to the jury different aspects of your accident and how you were injured. These visual aids are called demonstrative evidence, and they can be a huge factor in your personal injury case. Demonstrative evidence is pretty much anything used to prove negligence that isn't spoken testimony. Demonstrative evidence can be either illustrative or physical. Illustrative Evidence: This type of evidence can include photographs of your accident scene or graphs showing the intersection where you were hit, as well as which way the cars were heading. If you're involved in a medical malpractice case, evidence can include charts of your health progress, blown up pictures of injuries and specially designed illustrations showing how your surgeries were performed. These pictures basically tell your story to the jury. We want them to know what happened to you and how it affected your life. This will also allow them to understand what an expert witness is talking about when they discuss either medical or other types of information. Being able to visually see your story is a strong motivator in getting the jury to know you and understand your struggles. Physical Evidence: This type of evidence is anything a lawyer can pick up and show to the jury. Physical evidence can include a weapon used in a criminal trial or a broken stair that caused you to fall and injure yourself. At an accident scene, physical evidence can be a bumper that was torn off or even bloodied clothing. Damage to your car can be physical evidence, as well. In such instances, before you get it repaired, it is a good idea to get the vehicle completely evaluated and preserve evidence for future use. In the event of an accident or injury where you are unable to pick up actual physical evidence, it's always a great idea to take photographs of everything.