N.Va. firm gets its day in
court through high-tech animation
BY PAUL BRADLEY
Times-Dispatch Staff Writer
ALEXANDRIA–At age 30, with a degree from Mary Washington
College and a law degree from Widener College, Kenneth J. Lopez ought
to be making like one of those young associates in a John Grisham novel,
burning the midnight oil at a big-time law firm, climbing the ladder
by burying himself in legal books.
So why is he at work in Alexandria, dressed not in a
stiff blue suit and red power tie, but clad instead in comfortable khakis
and a sweater over a T-shirt, sipping cocoa from a paper cup while taking
a break from running his growing business? It all has to do with cartoons
and computers. Well, not cartoons, exactly, but animation, the computer-generated
kind that is intended to simplify the complex and clarify the incomprehensible.
Lopez, an Alexandria native, is chief executive officer
of Animators at Law, a 3-year-old company that specializes in creating
electronic presentations lawyers can use in court to make their cases.
"We have all the same equipment here that the Hollywood studios
have in developing computer-generated animation, like 'Toy Story' or
'Terminator,' " he said. "We are visual advocates for our
clients."
Animators at Law recently was honored by the Alexandria
Economic Development Partnership, which gives an annual award to a city-based
company for using and developing technology.
Lopez figures he is in the perfect spot to build a firm combining high
technology with legal work. Northern Virginia is increasingly becoming
a hub for tech companies. And just across the Potomac River, Washington
is rife with lawyers of every stripe.
The company has been growing rapidly. Though he won't
disclose figures, Lopez said that this year, the company already has
exceeded its billings for all of 1998.
Animators at Law started with Lopez alone and now has
10 full-time workers, plus lawyers on retainer. It also hires temporary
workers. Among its clients are major insurance companies, big law firms
and several Fortune 500 companies, including several tobacco companies,
which, of course, are involved in numerous legal fights.
Lopez said he stumbled across the idea for his company:
Computer animation was a hobby that unexpectedly developed into a career.
"I guess I've always had a knack for it," he
said. "In college, I picked up computer animation and I thought
it was the greatest thing. In law school, it kind of dawned on me that
lawyers might be able to
use this."
He decided to go to work for a computer animation firm. He'd bring the
company new business. The company would get a kind of work it did not
do before. Clients would get a needed service. Everybody won.
Still, his parents, who financed his education, were
not exactly thrilled with the idea.
"They thought I was nuts," he said. "But they let me
live at home for another year until I got my feet on the ground."
Lopez decided to strike out on his own when he realized
there was an untapped market.
Computer-generated animation can be of use in numerous legal cases.
It can re-create a traffic accident, for example. And according to the
American Bar Association, jurors are more likely to retain information
when oral arguments are combined with a visual presentation.
The first case Lopez was involved in was a medical malpractice
dispute in Delaware. Jurors had rejected the claims of a plaintiff who
complained a doctor botched what should have been a routine procedure.
On appeal, computer animation was used to show what happened, and the
initial decision was reversed.
"We come at this from an attack dog perspective,"
he said.
This form of justice does not come cheaply. The company charges between
$100 and $200 an hour. For complex cases, the bill can reach $10,000
and beyond.
Lopez also has competition in the animation field. Engineering
Animation of Ames, Iowa, is a $10 million a year business offering animation
services, and some law firms have their own in-house personnel specializing
in animation.
It is doubtful, however, that those offices look like
the digs occupied by Animators at Law near Old Town Alexandria. The
warren of offices includes one occupied by young computer designers
who have decorated their space with comic book action figures and posters.
Rock music blares as they do their work.
Lopez said he hopes to take the firm public, perhaps
in a couple of years, and is considering expansion into the New York
area to be close to even more lawyers in need of visual assistance.
© 1999, Richmond Newspapers Inc.
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Animators at Law
National Headquarters
814 King Street
Alexandria, Virginia 22314
800.337.7697
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