Doodling in the Courtroom

Your penchant for drawing little stick figures or smiley faces along the edges of your notes just might help you present your case better in the courtroom. This is the premise of a recent article in the fall issue of ABA magazine Litigation [Find it]. In “Winning Your Case Using Visual Grammar,” authors Frank Sommers and Dan Roam propose a system of visual grammar for conveying information in a clear and eye-catching manner. They pinpoint six types of easy-to-draw pictograms you can use to explain your case in court: portraits, charts, maps, timelines, flowcharts, and equations.  The authors envision a kind of performance art where you doodle your case live before your captivated audience of judges, jurors and opposing counsel.