Behind the Visuals: Augmenting Your Argument with Surgical Animations

Surgical animations: who needs them, right? Some attorneys who handle personal injury matters believe raw medical imagery, operative reports, and the power of the spoken word are enough to make a compelling case. However, the legal landscape is evolving, and litigation visuals are becoming standard practice to communicate complex medical information. Clients entrust their attorneys to tell their stories, attain justice, and make them financially whole. Not using litigation visuals to bolster a case’s evidence risks underserving those clients and leaving money on the table.

So, just how do these animations assist attorneys in obtaining better outcomes?

First, surgical animations contextualize damages by communicating the pain, the invasiveness, and the profoundness of surgeries through a visual medium. They depict surgeries as accurately as possible, helping viewers understand what occurred in the operating room. Second, when opposing counsel, mediators, or juries witness the grisly nature of these surgeries, it fosters empathy and understanding.

Ultimately, surgical animations must be accurate and authenticated by medical experts to maintain their probative value and be admissible in court. DK Global’s Creative Director of Medical Animation and Illustration, Danielle Burgess, shared, “Accuracy is the key. We only use documented and factual information, providing visuals that educate what we can show with certainty. Specifically, we only show what we know,” says Danielle.

DK Global’s Visual Consultants and Certified Medical Illustrators build the animations around clients’ records, operative notes, and medical imagery to ensure an animation is admissible. Then, they collaborate with the retained medical experts to certify the visuals are correct.

Because no two cases are the same, DK Global uses our client’s medical imagery to tailor each animation. “We’re often building the anatomy backward based on what the imagery looks like to show in detail what the injury is, what we can tell about it – and then working from there, using the op reports to tell the story in a way that’s going to be different for every case,” explains Rachel Bajema, a Certified Medical Illustrator at DK Global. Essentially, this personalization reinforces a case’s arguments and value by showing each surgery’s extraordinary impact.

Today, animations in demand packages, mediations, and trials are essential to convey complex medical information. Without a 3D visualization, a person’s trauma and experiences are reduced to ambiguous two-dimensional records and difficult-to-understand medical imagery. To discover how we can reinforce your case’s value with litigation visuals, contact DK Global today to schedule a personalized consultation with one of our Visual Consultants.