Make sense of medical jargon.

To jurors, the medical terminology they hear at trial often sounds like a foreign language. When jurors hear words they don't understand, their minds are likely to wander.

When your expert uses an unfamiliar term, interrupt and ask the witness to explain it. For example, make sure that when an expert says "neural antidromic mechanism," jurors understand that it means "nerve impulses going the wrong way."

On the other hand, you don't want a necessary explanation to become a boredom-inducing lecture. Let televised science programs like those that appear on the Discovery Channel be your guide. They educate and entertain at the same time, often using simple but engaging analogies to explain highly complex topics. For example, the functions of the brain and central nervous system might be compared to the way computers and the Internet interrelate.

Using these techniques, you can show jurors how a complex medical theory relates to the facts of your case.

Brett Godfrey

Englewood, Colorado