Tel: 206-932-7100   Email:

Applied Communication
Strategies, Inc.

8425 Tillicum Rd SW,
Suite 210
Seattle, WA 98136-2416

T: 206-932-7100
F: 206-932-5766

ACSI's Litigation Division

ACSI’s communication specialists and information analysts that have been providing litigation strategy consulting for over 23 years. Our goal is to assist you in achieving the best possible outcome for your settlement or trial. We excel in grasping, interpreting, and conveying information efficiently and effectively.

Colleen A. Brady, President of ACSI and leader of this Division, designs and facilitates communication by focusing on specific themes, strategies, and potential reactions to key witnesses. Brady combines her logical and scientific approach to communication with an understanding of how people assimilate, interpret, and react to information.

Brady has master’s degrees in both Natural Resources and Applied Behavioral Science/Leadership in Human Systems.

Witness Preparation

Our team uses our proven EXPLORE–UNDERSTAND–ACT–ASSESS model to help your witness achieve maximum clarity and personal authority, and minimize anxiety before a deposition, trial, or other proceeding.

Our role is to:
1. Assist the non-professional witness to maximize their strengths
2. Listen and act as a sounding board for questions and concerns
3. Inquire for clarity by asking for specifics and explanation
4. Provide a reality check by asking hard questions and giving honest feedback
5. Provide collaborative problem solving and education
6. Provide encouragement, inspiration, and championing

We discuss how to sit, where to look, and what non-verbal body language communicates. This discussion begins at the surface level, but quickly moves to their personal core where their fears reside. We talk about being themselves on the witness stand, about being in control of who they are, and how they present themselves. We talk about techniques for maintaining their balance when on the witness stand. This involves addressing that personal sense of who they are, so that they are grounded in their own personal authority and do not feel alone on the witness stand.

“You probably heard that the jury returned a unanimous verdict in favor of the hospital…after only five hours of deliberation, which is extremely unusual considering it took six weeks to try the case… The defense victory, in the most difficult possible context (a bad baby case) is in no small measure due to the excellent services of your organization. Your detailed conferences with my physician witnesses were highly productive… After the verdict, I was able to speak to many of the jurors. Several volunteered comments regarding demonstrative exhibits. All comments were favorable, comparing our exhibits to the plaintiff’s and conveying appreciation as to the high visibility and ease of understanding our exhibits……You and your firm did a terrific job.” Kathy A. Cochran, Wilson, Smith, Cochran and Dickerson, Seattle, WA Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers Washington’s Top 50 Women Lawyers

Communication Strategies and Visuals

We approach your project from a communication standpoint to enhance your presentation of legal issues and key facts. Our information analysts offer ideas for exhibits in large board or electronic format, as well as coaching on how to use them for maximum impact, clarity, and retention. Actual production may be done by your graphic design staff or ours.

Remember, content is key…and dressing for success applies to visual aids as well as people.

 

“Colleen demonstrated an amazing ability to turn seemingly dry constitutional and tax concepts into graphics that gave me confidence going into the argument, kept me (and the justices) on track through the presentation, and won the praises of one of the justices after the argument… For those who, like me, don’t usually think a graphic could add anything to the case, or don’t see how their academic topic could lend itself to a visual aid, I really encourage you to consider whether the case is big enough or complicated enough that Colleen might help. Whichever way the supreme Court decision comes out, I am confident we did everything we could to win this sizeable case for Seattle and other cities across the state!” Assistant City Attorney, Seattle, WA

If you would like to discuss your case, please call me at 206-932-7100

Sincerely,
Colleen A. Brady

PS If you have a case coming up, feel free to call and see if our services fit your needs.