Pandemic + Paradigm Shift = Payback
Extinction Level Event
The most difficult conversation that I have ever had with my father was when I said, “Dad, you look like you’re in a white-wall-hostage video or a commercial for witness protection. If you keep this up, you will destroy your 40-year reputation as an expert witness.” It was May 2020. The COVID-19 Pandemic, which started in March 2020, had all of the earmarks of a potential “extinction-level event” for expert witnesses, mediators, and attorneys. The courthouses were closed to in-person civil trials, hearings, mediations, and arbitrations. The cancellation of all In-person Depositions for the next 30 days left the legal profession uncertain about when they would return and in what form they would take. No court testimony plus no deposition testimony equals no income.
Paradigm Shift
Before 2020, the world of litigation was 90+% in person. Trials, mediations, arbitrations, court hearings, depositions, settlement conferences, etc., were in person. Fewer than 10% of attorneys, plaintiffs, judges, and witnesses had utilized video or telephone communication before the pandemic. COVID initially shut down the entire legal industry. The legal profession recognized that the Darwinian axiom of “Adapt or Die” was in play. So, it turned to technology for a potential quick fix. The solution was virtual video communication over the internet on platforms such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meets, Blue Jeans Network, and others. These virtual video platforms allow you to see each other, hear each other and share documents, all without being in the exact location and avoiding exposure to Covid-19. The shift was compulsory. The ADAPT or DIE scenario worked. The quick fix has evolved into a long-term solution, creating many unforeseen problems that persist today. The change from in-person to virtual was as profound as going from radio to motion pictures.
Back to my dad. His parents taught him to be firm believer in the biblical version of Adapt or Die, known as Make a Way – Find a Way. So, he was not about to close the shop after 40 years of building a nationwide reputation as an accomplished expert witness. Consequently, he rearranged two offices to become virtual deposition and trial production studios. He had several ring lights, the best webcam Logitech had on the market, a teleprompter, a 30″ desktop monitor, the best Bose noise-canceling headset, and a pristine white wall or a window as a backdrop. He was incredibly proud of what he had created. He swore it would enhance his reputation among existing clients and demonstrate to new clients that he and his staff of experts were utilizing cutting-edge technology to present their case in this new virtual world.
He wanted to show his son what he had created. Why was my opinion so important to him? Two reasons. First, you see, I have an extensive background in media. At Yale, I majored in film and political science while achieving All-Ivy First Team in football. I spent a summer as a production assistant and assistant editor for NFL Films. After college, I worked for ten years as an editor and then a producer for NBC Sports-Bay Area. I produced numerous commercials for professional teams such as the Golden State Warriors, San Francisco Giants, San Francisco 49ers, Oakland Athletics, Sacramento Kings, San Jose Sharks, San Jose Earthquakes, and many collegiate teams. As a nominee for a Bay Area Emmy Award, my dad, trusted me as an expert. My opinion mattered. The second reason was that my dad was committed to doing whatever it took to help me achieve my dreams. He took night-time coaching classes to help me become an all-star little-league pitcher. He had never played baseball as a kid. His motto was “Acknowledge the Error, Apply the Correction, to Yield Consistent Success.” I credit my regional San Jose Junior Sharks Ice Hockey Team Western Regional Championship to his encouraging me to practice my slap shot against the inside of our garage door. He sent me to computer camp to build computers for kids who couldn’t afford to buy one.
The Payback
When I saw the Zoom videos taken in both of my Dad’s pride & joy video studios, the first words that left my mouth were:
“Dad, you look like you’re in a white-wall-hostage video or in a commercial for witness protection. If you keep this up, you will destroy your 40-year reputation as an expert witness.”
My Dad was shocked and hurt. He slumped in his chair and said, “that bad?” Then he said, “OK but on a scale of 0 to 10, with ten being perfect and zero neutral, where does my video studio rank.”
Acknowledge the Error
Dad, I said we need to expand that scale into negative territory. Hilarious was his reply. Ok, I said, let’s go thru our “acknowledge the error” drill.
Context Always Matter
Your background sets the tone. For example, that pristine white wall behind you in the first office will remind people of a hostage video, i.e., not professional. That sunlight beaming thru the window behind you in the other office is so bright that your face winds up in deep shadows causing the infamous “witness protection look.” Zoom does not make anybody look good, but your lights make you look worse:
- The lights are not tuned to your skin tone, making your skin look muddy and flat without warmth and being alive. The positioning of your lights is so bad we can’t see your pupils.
- The rings of the ring lights are showing up on your glasses, which is very distracting and unprofessional.
- Your 30″ desktop monitor is too close to your eyes which is why your eyes are burning after just 30 minutes from Zoom fatigue.
Remember, you never sit in the first row of a movie theatre. Finally, the webcam’s lens is so wide-angle that it makes you look small, unimportant, and lost in your office—the opposite of a command presence.
The sound from the webcam microphone is of such poor quality that it removes all of your natural tone and resonance. Remember, sound communicates sincerity, honesty, trust, and empathy. Unfortunately, the sound from the webcam microphone also adds an “echo quality” to your voice, like standing in a large marble hallway, making you sound small and fragile—the opposite of a Command Presence. In sum, your set-up makes you look bad, present as unprofessional, and sound small and untrustworthy.
Apply the Correction
Everything is 100% correctable. Furthermore, when we execute interrelated components of the virtual video studios in a strategic sequence, you will get consistent success. Success is defined when the participants feel they have an “across-the-table conversation.” My Dad said, “Ok, let’s apply the correction, but what am I going to do with all this stuff.” I replied we would go to the significant financial undo button in the sky, aka EBAY, and seek financial forgiveness.
Over the next six months, we sold everything my dad had purchased, and I set about ordering the components for two new virtual video studios.
First, I ordered TV broadcast quality lapel microphones to guarantee that my dad’s natural tone and resonance frame the truthfulness of his words. No more “echo chamber of hollowness effect.” Sound is more important than video.
- People will only tolerate poor sound for up to 5 seconds before they actively disengage, and once they disengage, it is almost impossible to get them back.
- Second, I ordered small, powerful TV studio lights that could be tuned remotely to precisely enhance a wide range of skin tones (from Nicole Kidman to James Earl Jones). I already knew how to position them to prevent reflections in the glasses.
- Third, since context always matters, I purchased several cloth backdrops to frame my dad in proper professional settings. Since my dad is an expert witness, at least one of the backdrops was a picture of the wooden wall behind the witness stand. No green screen would have resulted in him disintegrating into a creature whose body parts appear and disappear every time he moves more than 2 inches.
- Fourth, I purchased a 43″ 4K monitor, mounted it on an adjustable platform, and placed it at the precise visual acuity distance designed to minimize eye strain and zoom fatigue.
Fifth, I purchased several professional DSLR cameras which I embedded with proprietary algorithms that generate a skin-smoothing effect. In addition, I programmed the cameras to focus sharply on only the 6 inches in front or behind my dad’s head. What is in focus tells the viewer what is essential and everything else is not. When my dad looks straight ahead into the monitor, it appears that he is looking straight into the camera due to its position. He NEVER has to look at the cameras, only at the 43″ monitor. Sixth, since my dad is not tech-savvy, 1 button turns everything ON and OFF.
Consistent Success
For the past two years, my dad’s firm has done over 300 virtual video depositions, over 100 trials, and numerous mediations and arbitrations in all 50 states in state and federal courtrooms. The depositions, trials, mediations, and arbitrations have been over all major virtual video platforms such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meets, Blue Jeans Network, and others. The consistent comment from judges, attorneys, jurors, mediators, arbitrators, and court reporters is we can hear and see you clearly. In fact, in one virtual trial, only the judge, jury, and court personnel were in the courtroom, and all attorneys and witnesses were to be present via Zoom. Opposing counsel accused my dad of violating that order and being in the courtroom. The judge reassured the attorney that although my dad may look like he was physically in the courtroom because of the quality of his appearance, sound, and background, My Dad was not in the courtroom with the judge, jury, and court personnel. Thus, validating my belief that I had helped my Dad achieve the virtual “across-the-table conversation” impression. Again, proving that integrated components, strategically executed result in sustained consistent success.
Paradigm Shift – BC now means Before COVID & AC means After COVID
By the end of 2021, attorneys accepted that while trials were slowly returning to pre-Pandemic in-person levels, the rest of litigation communication, including depositions, court hearings, mediations, arbitration, settlement negotiations, meet and confer meetings, are never going back to everything in person. As a result, they saved more money and time with an insignificant loss in effectiveness. As a result of my dad’s success in virtual depositions, trials, mediations, and arbitrations, attorneys began asking him if I could help them put together their virtual video studio. First, I worked on standardizing the core components. Next, I tested it out in several law offices and finally launched the virtual video studio under the brand name, Gerrel 1 Button Office Video Conference Studio.
No construction or alterations to existing walls required. The assembly and onboarding instructions for your personnel take less than 4 hours (with removal taking only one hour.). The Gerrel 1 Button does not add any software to your network (your system will only recognize an external monitor & camera). Gerrel 1 Button allows virtual communication platforms, including Zoom and Microsoft Teams to operate as they usually would.
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