As we all know, additive manufacturing a.k.a. 3D printing can change many industries. However, the unique use of the technology was completed by a trial lawyer in the legal field. He used Axial3D’s 3D printing solution to deal with one of his personal injury cases, which shows that the technology has great potential in almost any field.
The Case
For decades, the Knicks Law Firm has provided dedicated, experienced representatives promised by clients for accident victims in Wichita Falls, Lawton, and Texas and Oklahoma. Personal injury law firms deal with plaintiff cases mainly due to different types of injuries caused by liability and negligence.
Ben Hoover served as a felony prosecutor in the Wichita County District Attorney’s Office for 5 years and joined the Knicks Law Firm in 2012. Ben is an experienced trial lawyer dedicated to handling injuries, unlawful deaths and criminal law cases, and has recently started using Axial3D to print 3D models of his clients’ injuries.
“A 3D model is something that the insurance adjusters can hold and see, and it’s something that the jury is going to be able to see with their own two eyes and even touch the injury.” Ben explains when discussing the use of 3D modeling.
“In one particular case, I had a client who was involved in a rollover motor vehicle accident, where he injured his cervical spine, and had a severely herniated disc in his cervical spine. The surgeon did a double spinal fusion on two different discs, removed the discs and inserted plates. The client was in incredibly severe pain before the surgery, but unfortunately, even afterward he was still having quite a lot of pain even after the hardware and the disc replacement.”
The Use of 3D Printing
Normally, in this case, Ben would provide detailed medical illustrations, but the use of accurate 3D anatomical models to explain these complex injuries attracted him. Ben did not try to explain the injury to the juror when the doctor pointed at the MRI or X-ray film 20 feet away, but tried a new method.
“At about this time, I came across Axial3D and anatomical models. I think it would be very helpful to make a spine model that shows my client’s actual spine in a 3D image to scale, with hardware attached to the front in contrasting colors. “Ben said.
“This is the first step in obtaining a 2D image, which may be helpful in many cases, but it is definitely an enhancement. It allows the jury to accurately see the doctor’s description. I have never seen anything like this before. Products that have been used in this way. In the past, even in this case, I used color illustrations. However, the novel application attracted me to 3D printing.” Ben added.
How to perform 3D printing in personal injury cases of lawyers?
This model can be used to improve the quality of cases for lawyers such as Ben and explain the severity of the client’s injury to the jury. 3D printing like this requires 2D black and white scanning, that is, ordinary people cannot decrypt anything and convert it into content that doctors can use to explain the injury, and let the jury see and actually touch it.
These models are not only very detailed and accurate, but Axial3D can generate and ship customized 3D anatomical models within 48 hours, allowing lawyers more time to plan and prepare their cases.
Speaking about how he plans to use Axial3D’s 3D printing solutions in the future, Ben added, “I’ve recommended Axial3D to be my partners and our other staff at the office. Now, when we’re drafting demands and preparing for mediations, our staff know that we can order illustrations and 3D models for when we have serious injuries just like in this case.”