[blindlaw] Embedded images in cases/other filings

[Singh, Nandini]

To an extent, yes. I remember taking a legal writing course a few years ago that offered the multi-media approach to brief drafting. Our textbook sampled a brief that had pictures of a monument, with the brief acting as tour guide of the structure. That being said, the important legal points could still be made sans pictures.

I did not encounter too many embedded graphics or images in briefs when I was clerking. The most notable case was a child pornography matter, where the purportedly offending photograph was part of the appendix. I think you are not really talking about these types of briefs though.

At my firm, we have a fairly traditional approach. Motions and briefs are verbal. The main exception would be expert report submissions, which have the entire range of visuals.

The only other time that a table or chart is used in what I think is a productive way occurs in indictments and sentencing reports involving money laundering or structuring criminal offenses. These graphics can be fairly simple to negotiate, as their main purpose is to illustrate date, amount of money, and parties.

I will say, however, for internal work product, people love using proof charts and massive spreadsheets to create chronologies or summaries, i.e. making bulleted lists within a cell of a table. I find it a bit weird, since this gets visually very cluttered based on input from my non-lawyer friends. I am also of the opinion that law is meant to be a literary profession, so all these charts, with their color coding and flow diagrams, may obscure more than clarify.

-----Original Message-----
From: BlindLaw [mailto:blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Laura Wolk via BlindLaw
Sent: Thursday, May 2, 2019 1:22 PM
To: blindlaw at nfbnet.org
Cc: Laura Wolk
Subject: [blindlaw] Embedded images in cases/other filings

Hello all,

I sort of figured it was only a matter of time until this happened,
but I've recently noticed a marked uptick in the number of embedded
images (unaccompanied by explanations) that have made their way into
cases and briefs I have been reading.  These aren't even always purely
pictures; they are oftentimes tables or other charts that easily could
be rendered in an accessible fashion or easily described in-text.  Has
anyone else noticed this?   I think this is going to be a problem of
increasing magnitude as the years go by and we should probably jump on
it sooner rather than later.

Laura

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