Click below to download a paper presented at the 2016 Annual Alberta Expropriation Conference titled:
"Showing Your Case: New Opportunities for Demonstrative Evidence", by Keith Wilson, B.A., LL.B.
Click below to download a paper presented at the 2016 Annual Alberta Expropriation Conference titled:
"Showing Your Case: New Opportunities for Demonstrative Evidence", by Keith Wilson, B.A., LL.B.
Click below to download a paper presented at the 2016 Annual Alberta Expropriation Conference titled:
"Showing Your Case: New Opportunities for Demonstrative Evidence", by Keith Wilson, B.A., LL.B.
Click below to download a paper presented at the 2016 Annual Alberta Expropriation Conference titled:
"Showing Your Case: New Opportunities for Demonstrative Evidence", by Keith Wilson, B.A., LL.B.
DEMONSTRATIVE
EVIDENCE TOOLS
FOR LAWYERS,
EXPERTS, AND
INVESTIGATORS
Founded by an experienced litigator, Veritas Litigation Support provides new demonstrative evidence aids to lawyers, expert witnesses, and investigators in order to reduce the risks and costs of litigation, decrease acrimony in disputes, and to promote timely settlement or success at trial/hearing.
VIEW OUR VIDEO BELOW
OUR VISION
At Veritas Litigation Support, our mission is to help lawyers and expert witnesses show their case through the use of new drone video technology, virtual 3D Models, and computer animations. Our evidence technicians transform complex and abstract facts into easy-to-understand visual aids--evidence that speaks for itself.
.jpg)
Veritas demonstrative aids have been accepted in proceedings before the Alberta Court of Appeal, the Alberta Energy Regulator, the Municipal Government Board, the Alberta Environmental Appeals Board, the Alberta Utilities Commission, the Surface Rights Board, the Land Compensation Board, various municipal land use boards and others.
ACCEPTED.
DIGITAL EVIDENCE
TOOLS
DRONE VIDEO EVIDENCE
Admissible and affordable aerial photos and videos to demonstrate the subject of your case. We provide ultra-high resolution imagery that allows us to zoom in to examine fine details of the footage.
3D MODELLING
Highly detailed and accurate models created with GIS software and drone photogrammetry techniques for a digital preservation of the subject lands or incident area that is capable of providing precise and reliable measurements.
ANIMATION
Computer animations or illustrations that are created in conjunction with expert witnesses that can be used as a visual aid for explaining abstract concepts, showing a re-enactment of an event critical to your case, or put the subject lands in context with the surrounding area using an animated aerial map. We can also create visual effects to highlight subject matter.
EVIDENTIARY
POST-PRODUCTION
A variety of post-production techniques to make your evidence video more accessible for the courts for hearings including: time-stamping, annotations of key subjects, outlining property boundaries, and many other techniques used to demonstrate the crucial components of your case or investigation.
SECURE EVIDENCE DISTRIBUTION
In order to ensure confidentiality and to protect litigation privilege, Veritas Litigation Support has prepared a secure evidence viewing portal to allow us to distribute our demonstrative evidence tools and drafts with the highest level of privacy and security.
EFFECTIVE.
It is well established that demonstrative evidence can be the most persuasive form of evidence. There are physiological reasons for this.
Recent studies have emphasized that we learn 75% of what we know through sight yet, while learning by sight is the most common means of learning, psychological studies indicate that after three days, most people will retain only 20% of what they see. By comparison, most people will only retain 10% of what they hear. However, when you simultaneous combine seeing with hearing, the retention rate three days later rises drastically to 65%.
TRUSTED.
OUR PROCESS
Consultation
Inquiry and discussion with client regarding the details of the case and which Veritas demonstrative evidence tools will be more appropriqate.
Acquisition
Collection of the data, aerial footage, documents, and other assets required to prepare the requested demonstrative evidence aids.
Production
Assembling all of the assets involved in the requested demonstrative evidence aids and preparing it into a format that can be used as admissible evidence. During the production phase of the demonstrative evidence, Veritas will assess and deliberate in conjunction with the client to ensure the demonstrative evidence aids accurately depict the details of the case.
.png)
Delivery
Utilizing secure on-line collaboration tools to enable efficient client direction on finalizing the details of the demonstrative evidence aids while protecting confidentiality and litigation privledge.
.png)
USER FRIENDLY & SECURE ON-LINE
COLLABORATION PROCESS
Veritas Litigation Support works collaboratively with the legal counsel, experts, and investigators when producing demonstrative evidence aids. To ensure nothing is lost in translation or misinterpreted during the production of our demonstrative evidence tools, Veritas implement a secure-user friendly online collaborative video review session—via a service called Frankie—into the production process.
Frankie allows our clients to view the draft video in sync with the evidence technicians as well as draw with simple pen and shape tools to annotate the footage, take notes, and zoom-in up to 600% on footage.
Once the Frankie session is over, a PDF file is created indicating the frame and timecode where notes were taken, who made the notes, and who annotated or made the drawings on the video, serving as a record for the production process which can be distributed alongside the demonstrative evidence tools. With each Frankie session lasting approximately 15-20 minutes on average, these video review sessions allow the Veritas Clients to precisely and efficiently instruct what revisions need to be made to finalize the demonstrative evidence aid.
TESTIOMONIALS
"I have been a litigator in SASKATCHEWAN and ALBERTA for 36 years and I have never before seen a technology that is so effective in litigation.
Last year my firm conducted an appeal of a tribunal decision to our Court of Appeal.
Because the SmartDrones [now Veritas Litigation Support] video was in evidence before the lower tribunal, it formed part of the appeal record and allowed me to bring the scene of the dispute—in both context and detail—into the Court room as part of the appeal.
The technology gave the Court the experience of conducting a view as though they were there in person without ever leaving the court room.
They were able to view the site in question from the ground and from above and from an unlimited number of angles as though they were sitting in a helicopter.
Having access to this type of evidence is a game changer."
-Greg Heinrichs, Q.C
Partner, DLA Piper Edmonton (Retired)
“During the proceeding, the quality of the video was excellent. The video allowed an easily assessable visual portrayal of the client concerns that were not apparent from the materials filed by the pipeline company. We were pleased with the professional service from SmartDrones [now Veritas Litigation Support] especially the technicians that produced the video and who attended the hearing to assist with the display.”
-Debbie Bishop, P.Eng., LL.B.
Partner, Bishop Law
"At the LMAR Group we are constantly seeking new and innovative methods to provide exceptional service to clients. We recently conducted an After Action Report for a Fire Department that involved a series of concurrent actions essential to the outcome, yet cumbersome to capture through the written word.
We believed a Demonstrative Animation video would be the most powerful method of visually demonstrating how a series of events converged to create an outcome. Veritas nailed it! The words that come to mind are professional, expertise, knowledgeable, talented and great to work with. From the initial contact to the final product the Veritas team were incredible.
They incorporated drone footage to capture the exterior setting for the viewer to gain positional context, then segued to demonstrative animation. Veritas were intuitive in understanding the essence of what needed to be told through animation and the product was exceptional, adding sprinkler systems and smoke to add realism! The final product both impressed and captivated the client.
I highly recommend Veritas for anyone seeking amazing animation or video depiction of events. They have the experience and ability to impress. A picture truly is worth a thousand words and much more engaging for the viewer!"
-Steve Marissink,
Director, LMAR Group Ltd
“My firm was dealing with a complicated corporate litigation matter where there was a dispute between shareholders involving the use of certain urban lands. The opposing party was making representations that there was no business activity, nor were revenues being generated, from these lands. Our client, as a shareholder, had an interest in, but did not have access to, the lands. We retained Veritas to use a drone to fly over the lands and record what they could. Veritas was able to show with their high quality video that there was clear evidence of business activity on the lands. What impressed me the most was how Veritas made the process so easy for us: one of their owners is a lawyer who understands forensics and knows both the rules of evidence and the unwritten rules of courtroom presentation, and the video was shot and edited in such a way that crystal clear focus was brought to the issues in dispute. The recording was done very quickly (we needed a quick turnaround) and efficiently. The whole process of the delivery of the video and access to same was smooth and streamlined.
We never did make it to court. Within a day or two of sending the video to opposing counsel, we received a significant offer that settled the lawsuit. I don’t believe I have ever before, or since, been able to gain as much leverage on a file with such little cost."
-Alexander Mosaico
Mosaico Law
Advocacy is storytelling.
Judging is discerning who to believe.
Seeing is believing.
Reducing Litigation Risk -- Improving Outcomes:
Lawyers are tasked with choosing the form of evidence that will help a decision-maker understand their case.
But advances in technology are changing the way our modern society expects to receive information and opportunities for how we convey it. There was a time when text-based documents and verbal descriptions were the primary means in how we would communicate and exchange ideas. Today, and increasingly so, many aspects of normal communication are moving away from text-based and verbal means in favour of highly visual communications.
Just as our society is becoming increasingly visual, lawyers, experts, and investigators have the opportunity to use new visual technologies in making their case or explaining their findings. Examples include aerial drone videos, precise and measurable virtual 3D models, and sophisticated computer animations.
EXPERIENCED
At Veritas, we understand litigation and regulatory hearing processes. We know the importance of confidentiality, the protections of litigation privilege, and the rigours of conflict of interest screening.
Our evidence technicians have worked with many lawyer, experts and investigators in a wide variety of legal forums including courts, tribunals, regulatory hearings, and post-incident investigators. We understand the demands on your time, the sensitivity of communications, and the critical importance of accuracy and confidentiality.
CONTACT US
VERITAS LITIGATION SUPPORT
SUITE 195, 3-11 BELLEROSE DRIVE
ST. ALBERT, ALBERTA, CANADA
Email: info@veritaslitigation.com
Tel: 780-991-5050
