If you’re a practicing lawyer, chances are you’ve made many presentations, whether to a jury, a client, or a board of directors. You’ve probably sat through mandatory continuing education programs, wondering why the presentation isn’t more engaging. A PowerPoint consisting of nothing but charts and text can be painfully dull; soon the audience checks out.
Give your presentation some pop by including a cartoon or two. Humor, especially when it’s unexpected, can instantly engage an audience. A funny drawing with a snappy caption can drive home your point in conjunction with your serious discussion.
CartoonStock is the place to find just the right cartoon for any occasion. For example, suppose the task is to explain a legal concept to a client, or maybe you want to bond with other lawyers about the difficulty of that task. The subject is addressed in this cartoon by acclaimed New Yorker cartoonist Leo Cullum:
A similar point is made in this simply drawn cartoon by J. Di Chiarro. Captionless cartoons, like this one, have their own subtle impact on viewers. Experiment with captioned and captionless cartoons to gauge your audience’s response.
Cartoons set in courtrooms will be familiar to your audience. Here’s another one by Leo Cullum, this time a two-liner with the set-up and punchline in word balloons, for greater visual impact. No doubt judges and litigators will get a kick out of this cartoon.
Legal fees are a subject of great interest to both lawyers and clients. You may want to acknowledge in a good-humored way that fees (of other lawyers, not yours!) can get out of hand. This Mike Lynch cartoon may be greeted with knowing smiles.
If you know your audience will appreciate dark humor, you can’t beat Frank Cotham for brutally funny cartoons.
Some of the best lawyer jokes are told by lawyers, who are known to have a self-deprecating sense of humor. A certain cynicism seems to come with the territory. In this cartoon by Chris Wildt, the lawyer seems to think he does well by doing good.
Relying on expert witnesses is one method to persuade a jury. Opposing counsel’s job is to question that purported expert’s credibility and qualifications. But it doesn’t look like the attorney will get far with this expert in Phil Witte’s cartoon. A visually arresting image that supports the punchline can grab your audience’s attention.
With CartoonStock, you can tailor your cartoon selections to the season, or base them on current events, or focus on your audience’s interests. As we approach the end of the year, a holiday-themed legal cartoon, such as this one by Mike Twohy, would be apt. The message: when in doubt, run it by legal.
We close with a closing argument cartoon, this one by Paul Noth. The scenario is a criminal trial, but CartoonStock has cartoons about civil lawyers, lawyers in private practice, in-house lawyers, judges, and practically any legal-themed situation you can imagine. Take a look and you’ll see what we mean.
For questions about our cartoons, licensing, or other opportunities, please contact your Cartoon Concierge Trevor at Trevor@CartoonStock.com or toll-free at 1-888-880-8357, and we’ll get back to you promptly.