The Case: We were contacted by a plaintiff’s firm who was suing a large company for sexual discrimination in the work place.

The Challenge: To communicate to the jury in a graphic the disproportionate amount of men in management and executive roles compared to women in support roles.

The Result: We took the idea of using a common corporate organizational chart and replaced the standard name in a box representation to color coded iconic representations of men and women. The chart illustrates both the disproportionate amount of men to women in the workplace overall, as well as the considerable lack of women in executive/management roles.

written by Nicole A. Matthiesen Litigation Graphics Consultant
	Click for a full biography Nicole Matthiesen is a Litigation Graphics Consultant at Magna Legal Services. Her consulting experience includes being the primary consultant for the prosecution on such high profile cases as U.S. v. Jeffrey K. Skilling and Kenneth L. Lay and U.S. v. Joseph P. Nacchio. On these cases, as well as a wide range of others, Nicole has worked as an integral part of trial teams by conceptualizing graphics that organize and simplify highly complex information and elaborate transactions. Nicole’s philosophy on graphic presentations stems from her background in writing and education. In addition to focusing on graphics that effectively teach or demonstrate, she emphasizes the importance of creating and maintaining story development and themes within the graphics, as this is crucial in helping jurors organize and retain information. Such consistency in presentations, particularly throughout long trials, is also vital in creating credibility for a trial team, and allows the jury to feel confident about their final verdict. Nicole holds an M.A. in Literature and Writing as well as a B.A. in French. She was a professor at California State University, Northridge where she taught Rhetoric and Composition. During this time she worked with the English Department in studying different approaches to teaching rhetorical composition to ESL (English as a Second Language) students. In addition, Nicole has an extensive background in accounting, and has served as the controller for two companies. She is also an established photographer whose work has been displayed nationally.