On Monday at the IADC Midyear Meeting, Michael A. Airdo led the IADC Foundation Forum, “Law, Ethics, and the Courtroom Battle Against Misinformation: A Cinematic CLE Experience,” alongside Academy Award–nominated filmmaker Scott Hamilton Kennedy and renowned astrophysicist and science educator Neil deGrasse Tyson.
The program examined how misinformation takes hold, why it resonates so deeply, and the significant impact it has on public trust, juror perception, and the integrity of legal proceedings. Through powerful film excerpts and real-world examples, the presentation explored how ethical, fact-driven storytelling can pierce through distortion, re-center the truth, and reshape the narrative at a time when the courtroom has become one of the last lines of defense for facts and justice.
Michael, in his role as IADC Foundation Board President and a trial attorney, highlighted how misinformation erodes the rule of law and challenges the legal profession to respond not only persuasively, but ethically to misinformation. The discussion emphasized the responsibility of defense counsel to balance advocacy with integrity while addressing the realities of modern social media influence and pretrial narratives.
These themes are further developed in a recently published article by Michael A. Airdo and Elvira K. Kovachevich, written in collaboration with the Illinois Association of Defense Counsel (IADC) and titled “Science, Storytelling, and the Law: Combatting Misinformation Ethically and Effectively.” The article explores how misinformation shapes litigation long before a jury is ever seated and offers a framework for responding with clarity, credibility, and purpose.
To request a copy of the article, please email Emma at epondel@airdowerwas.com
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