KEVIN GONZALEZ | Founder - Fidelis Trial & Video Solutions, LLC

What is your profession?

I’m a Trial Presentation Specialist, also known as a hot seat technician, trial tech, courtroom presentation specialist or litigation technology specialist. We have a lot of names for people who sit next to attorneys with too many laptops and are somehow expected to make everything appear on screen instantly.

I’m also a Legal Videographer specializing in in-person, hybrid and remote video depositions. That means I get to see both sides of the process. Sometimes I’m the person behind the camera recording the testimony and making sure everything is captured cleanly. Then months later I may be sitting in the courtroom as the trial tech presenting that exact same testimony to the judge or jury.

It’s kind of full circle. I get to help preserve the testimony when it happens and then help bring it back to life when it matters most in court.

How did you get into this field?

Honestly, a little by accident. It started with an invitation to join a growing company and I eventually was asked to help in litigation support. Once I got into a courtroom and realized there was an entire profession built around technology, strategy, presentation, problem-solving and organized chaos, I was hooked. What started as learning trial presentation software turned into years of being the person at counsel table making sure everything appears exactly when it needs to.

Tell us about yourself. Who are you outside of your job?

Outside of work, I really enjoy being involved in the community and spending time with friends. I love soccer and football, and I’m always up for actually playing sports too, not just watching them from the couch. I enjoy hiking, being outdoors and getting a group of friends together for a good BBQ. Depending on who I’m with, that might mean churrasco with my Brazilian friends or carne asada with everyone else.

I also really enjoy visiting Portugal whenever I get the chance. There’s something about the people, the culture, the food and the pace of life there that I always look forward to. Overall, I’d say I’m pretty simple: good friends, good food, a little competition and being useful in the community is a pretty great day for me.

What’s the most unexpected place you’ve ever had to work?

I’ve prepared for trial with attorneys in restaurants, hotel lobbies, conference rooms—you name it. But the most unexpected place was probably an in-person deposition at an attorney’s office.

I’m looking at you, Jersey. Ironically, we were told we’d be using the largest room in the office. Technically, that was true. The problem was that the “largest room” comfortably fit about three people. There were five of us, plus a camera, sound equipment and one tiny round table that looked like it had been borrowed from a coffee shop. Every wall was surrounded by mountains of documents.

At one point, I wasn’t sure whether I was setting up for a deposition or participating in an archaeological dig. Somehow, we fit everyone in, got the equipment set up, recorded the deposition, and nobody was crushed by a falling stack of exhibits. So overall: successful day.

If your job had a warning label, what would it say?

Warning: May develop trust issues with HDMI cables.

What’s one thing people always get wrong about what you actually do?

People sometimes think both sides of my job come down to pressing one button. As a legal videographer, it can look like I just hit record, and as a trial presentation specialist, it can look like I just click a button to put an exhibit on the screen.

In reality, there is a lot happening before that button ever gets pressed. On the video side, I’m managing framing, audio, lighting, recording quality, backups and making sure everything is captured correctly.

In trial, I’m following testimony, anticipating what the attorney may need next, managing exhibits, deposition clips, demonstratives and making sure the right thing appears at the right moment.

The button is the easy part. Everything behind it is the job.

What’s the weirdest question a client has ever asked you?

Honestly, I don’t have one that stands out. In this field, you hear so many unexpected questions that eventually your definition of “weird” changes. At this point, someone can ask me something completely out of left field and my first thought is usually, “Alright, let’s figure it out.”

I think trial work has permanently recalibrated my definition of weird.

If you could give your first-year-on-the-job self one piece of advice, what would it be?

Never assume something will work just because it worked five minutes ago.

Bring backups and then bring backups for the backups.

Just as important, build relationships. Network with people, learn from other professionals and never stop adapting. Technology changes constantly, and the way we present evidence today is not the way we presented it a few years ago. The more willing you are to learn new tools and adjust to change, the better you become at the job.

Basically, stay prepared, stay connected and never get too comfortable with the technology.

Tell us about the craziest deadline you’ve ever hit. How’d you pull it off?

One of the craziest deadlines I ever had was for an arbitration where hundreds of deposition clips were needed for the next morning.

It turned into one of those nights where you stop looking at the clock because it is only going to make you feel worse. I worked through the night organizing the designations, creating the clips, checking everything and making sure it was all ready to present.

I think I got about two hours of sleep.

The rest was powered by coffee, Red Bull and the knowledge that there was absolutely no extension on the deadline.

We got everything done and ready for the arbitration the next morning. I would not recommend that particular workflow, but it definitely taught me how much you can accomplish when there is no other option.

What’s something in your car or your bag right now that most people wouldn’t expect?

Enough cables, adapters, splitters and converters to connect almost any piece of technology manufactured during the last three decades.

What’s a “small” detail in your work that actually makes or breaks a case that nobody outside the industry realizes matters?

Timing in trial presentation and clear audio in legal videography.

In the courtroom, you can have the perfect exhibit or video clip, but if it takes 15 seconds to get it on the screen, the moment is gone. When an attorney asks a key question and the exact page, photograph, highlight or clip appears instantly, everything feels seamless.

For videography, everyone notices whether the shot looks good, but clear audio is just as important, if not more important. A perfectly framed deposition doesn’t mean much if you can’t clearly hear the testimony. That video may later be played to a judge or jury, so every word matters.

In both roles, the goal is the same: the technology should disappear and let the evidence and testimony speak for themselves.

Describe your job in exactly five words.

Making technology look suspiciously easy.

What’s one piece of advice you wish you had ignored?

“You probably won’t need that adapter.”

Yes.

Yes, I will.

And probably about ten minutes after we begin.

What’s the best marketing idea you’ve ever tried?

Doing really good work and being someone people actually want to work with again.

It’s not exciting marketing advice, but in litigation, one attorney telling another, “Call Kevin. He’ll take care of it,” is worth more than almost anything I could put in an advertisement.

What’s a totally random skill your job has accidentally made you great at?

Reading attorneys’ minds.

After enough trials, you start recognizing the look.

An attorney turns slightly toward you, makes half a hand gesture and says, “Can you pull up—”

Already there.

It’s basically courtroom telepathy.

What’s the longest you’ve ever had to wait for someone to show up—and what did you do to pass the time?

About an hour for a remote deposition. Both the attorney and the witness were running late.

So I made another cup of coffee, enjoyed the view outside and got a little reading in while I waited.

Not exactly the most stressful hour of my career.

Have you ever been mistaken for something you’re not, like a lawyer, cop or security, because of what you were carrying or wearing?

All the time.

Opposing counsel has mistaken me for a paralegal, while jurors and courtroom observers have assumed I was an attorney.

I guess if you wear a suit, sit at counsel table and look like you know exactly what’s happening, people just promote you.

What’s one piece of jargon from your world that would confuse literally anyone outside it?

“Hot seat.”

In my world, it means the trial presentation specialist sitting near counsel table managing exhibits, video, demonstratives and courtroom technology in real time.

Outside the legal world, it sounds like I’m either being interrogated or about to lose a game show.

If your job were a reality TV show, what would the tagline be?

“Where everything is urgent and nothing was sent early.”

What’s a moment on the job that reminded you why the work actually matters?

One time I was able to stay through an entire trial and even hear the jury verdict.

Afterward, a few jurors came up and asked what my role was. One of them was a teacher who said she was planning to take her students to a courtroom to learn about the different careers in the legal field and that she wanted to include trial presentation as one of them.

A few other jurors mentioned specific highlights and callouts I had put on documents during the trial and said those helped them remember where to focus and better understand the evidence.

That really stuck with me. It was a reminder that what I do is not just putting things on a screen. The way evidence is presented can genuinely help people follow, understand and remember a case.

Who was the most memorable person you’ve ever worked with or for—and why?

It’s difficult to pick one person.

The attorneys I remember most aren’t necessarily the loudest people in the courtroom. They’re the ones who are extremely prepared, treat their team well, stay calm when things go wrong and trust everyone to do their job.

Trial can bring out a lot in people. The attorneys who remain kind and professional under pressure always stand out to me.

What’s the proudest “nobody will ever know I did this, but I did” moment of your career?

Once, while reviewing an attorney’s outline and cross-referencing it with the exhibits, I caught a few discrepancies in the exhibit numbers and page references.

I flagged them, we cleaned up the outline and found the correct exhibits and pages before they were ever shown in court.

By the time the jury saw everything, it looked completely seamless.

They will never know I was part of that process, and that is exactly how it should be.

If you weren’t doing this job, what’s the one career you’d have chased instead?

Something in filmmaking for sure.

I’ve always been drawn to the behind-the-scenes side of telling a story, whether that is filming, editing or even composing music for movies.

Basically, I would still be sitting behind a computer obsessing over timing. The only difference is there would be fewer objections.

What do you wish more people understood about the person who shows up to do this job?

That we’re not just the “computer person.”

A good trial presentation specialist becomes part of the trial team.

We’re learning the witnesses, exhibits, deposition testimony and structure of the case. We’re anticipating what attorneys will need, solving problems before anyone knows they exist and trying to remove one entire category of stress from an already stressful environment.

The best compliment isn’t necessarily someone saying the technology was impressive.

It’s: “I didn’t have to worry about it.”

What’s your favorite local restaurant?

That’s an impossible question in San Diego.

There are too many good options, and I refuse to commit when tacos, sushi, Italian and barbecue are all competing for my loyalty.

Coffee, tea or energy drink?

Coffee.

At this point, it’s less of a beverage and more of a coworker.

Anything else you’d like to share?

I genuinely enjoy what I do. Every case is different, every courtroom or deposition brings its own challenges, and there is always something new to figure out.

For me, being a trial technician or legal videographer is about more than just knowing the equipment. It is about understanding what the legal team needs, staying prepared, paying attention to the details and making sure the technology never gets in the way of the evidence or testimony.

In trial, that might mean anticipating the next exhibit, catching a discrepancy before it reaches the jury or making sure everything appears exactly when it should. In a deposition, it means making sure the video looks professional, the audio is clear and the record is something the attorneys can confidently use later.

I like being someone the team can rely on when things get busy, complicated or unpredictable. If I can take the technical side off their plate and give them one less thing to worry about, then I know I am doing my job well.

That is probably the part I value most: helping the attorneys stay focused on the case while I make sure everything behind the scenes is handled.