Mitch Hedberg said, “I used to do drugs. I still do, but I used to, too.”
Which illustrates our need for timelines.
Hedberg’s gag implies two separate time periods when there’s really just one. Distorting temporal relationships can be engaging and funny in jokes and riveting in movies like Pulp Fiction and Memento, but usually doesn’t make for clear communication.
Which illustrates our need for timelines.
Hedberg’s gag implies two separate time periods when there’s really just one. Distorting temporal relationships can be engaging and funny in jokes and riveting in movies like Pulp Fiction and Memento, but usually doesn’t make for clear communication.
How many times have you stopped a friend who was yapping away to ask, “Wait. Was that before or after he did that?” Did the ex meet the “other person” before or after the divorce? How long before or after? Did the team win the title before or after the big trade? How long?
Can we blame our teachers? Many of us were taught history pegged only to dates. We all know the Declaration of Independence was written in 1776. But when was the Constitution? Before or after? What were five key events between them? We’ve been taught that dates matter more than the relationship of events.
In preparing for mediations and especially in writing arbitration awards, I’ve spent many hours sorting through submissions to dig out the few really key temporal relationships.
Whether we’re looking at seconds, days or years, it’s usually not the time of day or day of year that matters. It’s the temporal relationships. When I’m trying to untangle temporal relationships, I’m really asking two big questions. First, I’m wondering about sequence. What was the first important event? What happened next? What happened next? What happened last?
Second, I’m wondering about the intervals between key events. How long was it between event #1 and event #2? How does that compare to the intervals between events # 2 and #3, #3 and #4, and #4 and #5?
The temporal relationship of those key events is the story. All other stuff may be interesting and supportive, but if we don’t firmly understand those few key relationships, we are never going to understand the story. Lawyers go wrong by glomming all the events together, making them equally important and not really nailing down the meaning of the few key events.
There may be multiple timelines, sub-timelines, and all sorts of graphs and charts that show the relationships of various data threads. But there should be some basic timeline that shows the temporal relationship of just the few key events.
Five key events in an auto case could be: Date of the last pre-existing complaint. Date of the accident. First medical visit post-crash. Date of surgery. Last medical visit.
In an OB case, it could be: First sign of deteriorating fetal or maternal health. Second sign of distress. Crash event. Decision to deliver. Time of delivery.
The basic timeline isolates key events and shows their temporal relationship. While a simple list can work, most effective is a visual representation. I think that the basic timeline should be simple and clear. Other timelines can have all the bells and whistles, but everything flows from understanding the relationship of the five key events.
What those key events are and how they relate is often the most contested issue. Each side will have its own argument and its own timeline. In my view, every timeline should advance an important argument. Don’t begin to design a timeline until you know the point you are trying to illustrate.
Think very carefully about which events are key to making your point. The illustration might show those events separated by seconds, minutes, days, months or years depending on what best illustrates the point.
For example, the plaintiff usually wants to show a bright line before and after the occurrence. “Until 11:22 PM that stormy Friday, Plaintiff was a champion pogo-sticker without a single treatment for his knee. At 11:23, his life was changed forever when Defendant’s car hit him.”
Or, “Before 11:22:08, there was every reason to believe Baby Smith would be a normal healthy little boy. All that changed when he was not appropriately delivered by 11:37:48.”
The defense usually wants to show that what happened is not a single well defined event: “Actually, Plaintiff’s knee problem started with a congenital defect twenty-seven years ago and he continued to have issues throughout his life aggravated by non-stop pogo-ing, and then by a fall on ice just three months before our occurrence.”
When the defense cannot cite other events to diffuse the before-and-after damages, plaintiff argues the jury would have to find a once-in-a-lifetime coincidence to negate causation. The temporal relationship, however cast, is persuasive. Picking those key events and showing their relationship is vital.
After you have figured out your key events and how you want to argue them, it’s time to think about designing visuals that will show the sequence and intervals that make your point clear.
While I was working on this column, Scott Horwitz at DecisionQuest showed me a number of his very clever timelines and how he designs them.
Timelines can be simple linear, vertical or horizontal, animated, static, or interactive with swipes or scrolls. He uses flags, icons, arrows, photos, bullets, shading, and call-outs with great colors and shapes. I particularly like “builds” where levels are added and details are developed and explored.
Scott’s website has a number of examples and is well worth checking out. http://www.decisionquest.com/timelines.
Timelines are demonstrative aids. Lawyers sometimes argue that demonstrative aids are neutral. Generally speaking, they shouldn’t be. Use only what helps your case in some way. Make your demonstrative aids give the fact finder vivid reason to side with you. Timelines show what you say is really going on. Make your timelines pointed and persuasive before you worry about making them pretty.
Mitch Hedberg joked he used to do drugs. We thought he was hilarious. Sadly, the timeline shows the reality in just two entries. Start of drug usage. Death.
Can we blame our teachers? Many of us were taught history pegged only to dates. We all know the Declaration of Independence was written in 1776. But when was the Constitution? Before or after? What were five key events between them? We’ve been taught that dates matter more than the relationship of events.
In preparing for mediations and especially in writing arbitration awards, I’ve spent many hours sorting through submissions to dig out the few really key temporal relationships.
Whether we’re looking at seconds, days or years, it’s usually not the time of day or day of year that matters. It’s the temporal relationships. When I’m trying to untangle temporal relationships, I’m really asking two big questions. First, I’m wondering about sequence. What was the first important event? What happened next? What happened next? What happened last?
Second, I’m wondering about the intervals between key events. How long was it between event #1 and event #2? How does that compare to the intervals between events # 2 and #3, #3 and #4, and #4 and #5?
The temporal relationship of those key events is the story. All other stuff may be interesting and supportive, but if we don’t firmly understand those few key relationships, we are never going to understand the story. Lawyers go wrong by glomming all the events together, making them equally important and not really nailing down the meaning of the few key events.
There may be multiple timelines, sub-timelines, and all sorts of graphs and charts that show the relationships of various data threads. But there should be some basic timeline that shows the temporal relationship of just the few key events.
Five key events in an auto case could be: Date of the last pre-existing complaint. Date of the accident. First medical visit post-crash. Date of surgery. Last medical visit.
In an OB case, it could be: First sign of deteriorating fetal or maternal health. Second sign of distress. Crash event. Decision to deliver. Time of delivery.
The basic timeline isolates key events and shows their temporal relationship. While a simple list can work, most effective is a visual representation. I think that the basic timeline should be simple and clear. Other timelines can have all the bells and whistles, but everything flows from understanding the relationship of the five key events.
What those key events are and how they relate is often the most contested issue. Each side will have its own argument and its own timeline. In my view, every timeline should advance an important argument. Don’t begin to design a timeline until you know the point you are trying to illustrate.
Think very carefully about which events are key to making your point. The illustration might show those events separated by seconds, minutes, days, months or years depending on what best illustrates the point.
For example, the plaintiff usually wants to show a bright line before and after the occurrence. “Until 11:22 PM that stormy Friday, Plaintiff was a champion pogo-sticker without a single treatment for his knee. At 11:23, his life was changed forever when Defendant’s car hit him.”
Or, “Before 11:22:08, there was every reason to believe Baby Smith would be a normal healthy little boy. All that changed when he was not appropriately delivered by 11:37:48.”
The defense usually wants to show that what happened is not a single well defined event: “Actually, Plaintiff’s knee problem started with a congenital defect twenty-seven years ago and he continued to have issues throughout his life aggravated by non-stop pogo-ing, and then by a fall on ice just three months before our occurrence.”
When the defense cannot cite other events to diffuse the before-and-after damages, plaintiff argues the jury would have to find a once-in-a-lifetime coincidence to negate causation. The temporal relationship, however cast, is persuasive. Picking those key events and showing their relationship is vital.
After you have figured out your key events and how you want to argue them, it’s time to think about designing visuals that will show the sequence and intervals that make your point clear.
While I was working on this column, Scott Horwitz at DecisionQuest showed me a number of his very clever timelines and how he designs them.
Timelines can be simple linear, vertical or horizontal, animated, static, or interactive with swipes or scrolls. He uses flags, icons, arrows, photos, bullets, shading, and call-outs with great colors and shapes. I particularly like “builds” where levels are added and details are developed and explored.
Scott’s website has a number of examples and is well worth checking out. http://www.decisionquest.com/timelines.
Timelines are demonstrative aids. Lawyers sometimes argue that demonstrative aids are neutral. Generally speaking, they shouldn’t be. Use only what helps your case in some way. Make your demonstrative aids give the fact finder vivid reason to side with you. Timelines show what you say is really going on. Make your timelines pointed and persuasive before you worry about making them pretty.
Mitch Hedberg joked he used to do drugs. We thought he was hilarious. Sadly, the timeline shows the reality in just two entries. Start of drug usage. Death.