Litigation
Aug. 13, 2002
Video Gives an Edge in Settlement Talks
Kelly Ryan, a partner at Pasadena's Russakow, Ryan & Johnson, needed a fresh approach to a stock fraud case that he was working on.
Kelly Ryan, a partner at Pasadena's Russakow, Ryan & Johnson, needed a fresh approach to a stock fraud case that he was working on.
Ryan needed to show in settlement talks that his clients, a couple who filed suit against their broker, weren't just suffering from sour grapes in the ailing market.
Then he remembered meeting Keiko Johnson at a party. Johnson told Ryan that she was leaving her job as a producer for NBC News to start her own company with partner Rob Feldman, another former NBC producer. In April, they did just that.
Their company, Juris Productions, creates videos for use in trial and settlement negotiations.
Johnson says the career change appealed to her because it gives her a more active role in helping people. And the new company appeals to lawyers like Ryan, who find they need an edge in a particular case.
The challenge in Ryan's stock fraud case concerned damages. Unlike a simple personal injury case, Ryan had no broken bones or other obvious, physical injuries to point to. Nevertheless, he needed to show that his clients were harmed by the actions of the broker.
"She said that she could emphasize my clients' damage," Ryan says.
Ryan met with Johnson and Feldman to explain the case to them.
After the script was done, Johnson and Feldman conducted interviews with key people involved and produced a 10-minute video, which was presented to opposing counsel at settlement talks.
"I got a tremendous result, much more than I expected," Ryan says.
He says he used video for the first time in this case and now is a big fan of Juris Productions.
"We're very happy with them," Ryan says. "[The settlement video] looked like a news magazine."
Settlement videos are the company's signature product, according to Johnson. They are scripted and can include home video, interviews, photos and even forensic animation.
"We take a case and turn it into a story," she says.
Feldman and Johnson enjoy having a full 10 minutes to tell a story, rather than the one minute and 45 seconds to which they were limited on the evening news, Feldman says.
The two also say they believe they are making more of a contribution.
"We saw an opportunity to help people in a more direct way than just covering their stories and putting them on the air," Feldman says.
Stefanie Knapp
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