Mark J. Heise, Esq., Boies, Schiller & Flexner, LLP
Compelling Courtroom Conversations
Mark Heise always wanted to be a trial lawyer, and he’s had the opportunity to work with some of the best in the profession, including his colleague, ABA President Stephen Zack. With a style he describes as "casual and conversational," the Boies, Schiller & Flexner LLP partner in Miami notes, "I have tried to take the best of what I have seen of other people throughout my career." Given his success representing Philip Morris USA in commercial litigation, as well as other companies in class actions and business disputes, that technique has proven very effective.
In a spring 2010 case set in a small Palm Beach County courtroom, Heise and his legal team spent six weeks defending the law firm Proskauer Rose from a $60 million malpractice claim by Boca Aviation. Boca Aviation had purportedly hired the firm in 1996 to negotiate and prepare a contract guaranteeing its exclusive role as the fixed base operator at the Boca Raton Airport. The Federal Aviation Administration concluded that the contract violated its regulations, and despite corrections to the agreement, Proskauer Rose could not guarantee Boca Aviation’s exclusivity.
In 2004, another fixed base operator began working at the airport, prompting a series of lawsuits, among them this action by Boca Aviation against its former attorneys, which asserted that they did not adequately protect the company from competition.
After this trial, I am completely sold on having [TrialGraphix] in the courtroom with me. I’ve told anyone who will listen that you definitely want them there.
Although Heise had been collaborating on smaller projects with TrialGraphix for almost two decades, “we needed to go above and beyond the usual graphics,” he recalls. And he wasn’t disappointed: "The other side did a good job, but nothing compared to what we got from TrialGraphix − our courtroom consultant was phenomenal."
After this trial, I am completely sold on having [TrialGraphix] in the courtroom with me. I’ve told anyone who will listen that you definitely want them there.
During the trial, as Heise read documents to various witnesses, the courtroom consultant simultaneously highlighted the text for jurors, he recalls. "It was a great way to get the jury to focus on dry paper documents." The courtroom consultant also edited daily video footage of the proceedings by Courtroom View Network for use during closing. "To replay the testimony was really dramatic," Heise says. “After this trial, I am completely sold on having [TrialGraphix] in the courtroom with me. I’ve told anyone who will listen that you definitely want them there," he says.
This is particularly true when the unexpected occurs. The day before closing, the judge ruled in Proskauer’s favor that, as a matter of law, Boca Aviation couldn’t have a contract that guaranteed its position as the exclusive fixed base operator at the Boca Raton Airport. This decision required Heise to completely refocus his presentation on the one remaining issue. Working through the night, the courtroom consultant created a new graphic: a chain in which each link represented a requirement that the plaintiff needed to fulfill to meet its burden. "As a lawyer, it was great because it was something I could constantly refer back to, and it kept both the jury and me focused on the important issues."
That experience in engaging jurors was part of the reason that TrialGraphix also assisted in developing a unifying theme for the case. Given that the client in this matter was a sophisticated law firm, the legal team considered various jury consultants to support Heise.
Ironically, although Heise was familiar with TrialGraphix from their earlier work together, it was actually his contact at Proskauer who first suggested that they employ the company for its expertise with prospective jurors. "They put together a first-rate report that highlighted key issues and exposed certain weaknesses," he recalls. The jury ultimately hung on the second question, and Heise is seeking a directed verdict on this point.
"We never had a single problem throughout the trial," he says now. "Nothing ever went wrong, and I think that was a real testament to TrialGraphix."