Trial Technology 101
A bridge course. By the time you finish, you'll know exactly what makes trial technology a different job from depo or evidentiary work — and exactly what you'd have to learn to be trusted with it. Two reader profiles. One hot seat.
What this course is
TT101 zooms in on the third career introduced in LVCP — trial technology — and surveys every silo the job touches: courtroom procedure, evidentiary rules, encoding and sync, TrialDirector, hardware, the multi-week trial engagement, and the business that gets you re-booked. It does not teach you how to do the job. That's the Certified Trial Technology Specialist (CTTS) course, the paid depth course on the hub. TT101 exists to show you, lesson by lesson, exactly why CTTS is the next thing you take.
The job, in one sentence
A trial technologist sits at counsel table during trial and operates the presentation system in real time — calling up exhibits, playing deposition video clips, syncing transcripts to video, switching display sources to courtroom AV. The attorney drives. The trial tech executes. There is no second take.
Built for two reader profiles
Working trial techs come from two directions. TT101 speaks to both — every lesson — and is explicit about where the on-ramps diverge.
The video-side ladder
A working CDVS or CEVS holder considering the next rung: capture for a few years, build a name, then climb. Arrives technologically fluent. What they have to learn is the law — substantive, procedural, evidentiary, and the courtroom workgroup that runs on top of it.
The legal-side crossover
A litigation paralegal, legal assistant, or practicing attorney who has spent years inside trials watching trial tech happen, and has decided that operating cases is what they want to do next. Arrives rules-fluent. What they have to learn is the technology — TrialDirector, signal flow, encoding, sync, and the kit that runs the show without becoming the show.
Same destination
Both groups are well-represented in working trial techs. The trial techs who command the highest rates and the deepest reputations are the ones who, regardless of which on-ramp they used, eventually own both halves cold.
The fourteen lessons
Short lessons. Each one opens a curiosity gap. Most refuse to close it — because the gaps get filled in CTTS.
- The moment you can't take back
- Two on-ramps, one hot seat
- The top of the AGCV ladder
- Capture vs. present — different job, same industry
- The courtroom is not a conference room
- The workgroup you just joined
- Two words that will get you corrected by a judge (publish vs. admit)
- Anticipate. Anticipate. Anticipate.
- The file you receive is not ready
- TrialDirector is the tool. It is not the job.
- Your kit, reconceived
- A deposition is a day. A trial is a month.
- Why the rates are what they are
- Ingredients vs. recipes
The destination: CTTS
The Certified Trial Technology Specialist course is what TT101 was built to bring you to. Five chapters, twenty-three lessons, four module assignments, a TrialDirector Hands-On Assessment, and a bonus webinar on the business that surrounds it. The credential is earned by demonstrated capability — not by clicking through lessons.
CTTS course structure
- Chapter 0 — Course Materials. CTTS Certification Manual + TrialDirector 6 Training Manual + Training Data + CTTS Appendices. A complete reference set.
- Chapter 1 — Litigation Preparation & Courtroom Procedure. Trial Support & the Courtroom Workgroup, Booking & Preparing for Trial, Trial Preparation, Post Trial, Courtroom Setup. Gated by four module assignments.
- Chapter 2 — Preparing Deposition Video for TrialDirector. Encoding, DVD Extractor, MPEG Transcoder, synchronization, TimeCoder Pro.
- Chapter 3 — TrialDirector Training. Three sessions, plus the TrialDirector Hands-On Assessment you submit before earning the credential.
- Chapter 4 — BONUS: The Business of Trial Technology Webinar.
The certification gate
Complete the four module assignments through Chapter 1 and submit the TrialDirector Hands-On Assessment to earn the CTTS designation.
Course tagline: professional under pressure, technologically savvy, and organized.
If your fundamentals are shaky
Three sister 101s backfill the technical and procedural baseline CTTS assumes — especially load-bearing if you're crossing over from the legal side.
- Audio Production 101 (AP101) — audio fundamentals. Trial techs inherit the audio problems no depo videographer caught.
- Video Production 101 (VP101) — video and post-production fundamentals. Encoding and sync work in CTTS Chapter 2 assumes this baseline.
- Presentation Technology 101 (PT101) — courtroom presentation hardware and signal flow. The companion 101 most trial-tech-bound students take alongside TT101.
Where TT101 sits
There are two common routes to CTTS. TT101 is the bridge step on both.
GROW — Business of Legal Video runs alongside either path whenever you're ready to build a real business out of it. Especially load-bearing for trial techs, whose books of business behave differently than capture-side videographers'.
Who takes this course?
People entering the trial tech side of legal video from several directions:
Not sure where you fit? The free Legal Video Career Path course gives you the full map across all three pillars.
The bridge to the hot seat.
TT101 is free and takes about two and a half hours. CTTS is on the other side of the link — the credential for the chair you've been watching. The recipes are there.