Practical, Litigation-Focused Instruction
Geospatial evidence plays an important role in legal matters involving property, land use, environmental conditions, infrastructure, and historical events. Yet understanding what maps, aerial photographs, elevation models, and other geospatial data actually show is not always straightforward.
Developed and taught by a practicing geospatial expert witness, Geospatial Evidence for Legal Professionals introduces attorneys to the technologies, data, methods, and reasoning involved in using geospatial evidence in legal matters.
The courses combine technical foundations with practical applications, helping attorneys understand how geospatial information is produced, what questions it can answer, and how to evaluate its use in legal investigations and litigation.
Topics covered include:
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The types of geospatial data available and where to find them
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How aerial imagery, GIS, LiDAR, and satellite remote sensing work
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How these technologies produce information relevant to legal questions
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Common legal applications and the questions different types of data can answer
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Limitations, uncertainties, and potential sources of error
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Ethical responsibilities in producing, interpreting, and presenting geospatial evidence
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Evaluating the methods, reasoning, and conclusions underlying geospatial evidence
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Working effectively with geospatial experts
The goal is to equip attorneys with the knowledge to recognize opportunities for using geospatial evidence, ask informed questions, and critically evaluate the information and conclusions presented to them.
Complete Series
Geospatial Evidence for Legal Professionals
Seven courses covering the foundations, technologies, applications, ethics, and reasoning involved in geospatial evidence.
Module 3 $149
Vectors, PDFs and GIS as Legal Evidence
Explore how digital maps, vector data, PDFs, and geographic information systems are created and used to organize, analyze, and present spatial evidence.
Module 5 $149
Satellite Data as Legal Evidence
Explore satellite sensors, imagery, and remote sensing techniques, including how they reveal environmental conditions, land-use patterns, and changes across large areas.
Module 7 $149
Reasoning with Geospatial Evidence
Learn to evaluate the data, methods, interpretations, and conclusions behind geospatial evidence, identify weaknesses in reasoning, and anticipate or make challenges.
Module 2 $149
Aerial Imagery as Legal Evidence
Learn how historical and modern aerial imagery is collected, processed, and interpreted, and how it can be used to investigate past conditions and changes over time.
Module 4 $149
Topographic Lidar as Legal Evidence
Understand how LiDAR technology measures the physical world, what information can be derived from point clouds, and how it can support terrain, elevation, and infrastructure investigations.
Module 6 $149
Geospatial Ethics and Legal Practice
Examine the ethical responsibilities involved in collecting, analyzing, interpreting, and presenting geospatial evidence, including uncertainty, misrepresentation, and professional judgment.
Who These CLEs Are For
These courses are designed for attorneys who encounter spatial, land-based or imagery-driven issues, including:
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Real-property and boundary attorneys
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Land-use and zoning attorneys
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Environmental and natural resource attorneys
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Trial attorneys handling site-specific disputes
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Attorneys working with expert witnesses or technical evidence
No technical background is required.
Instructor
Nathan Mangsen is a geospatial analyst and expert witness specializing in historic aerial imagery, Lidar analysis, and photogrammetry for litigation. He has supported more than 30 legal matters involving land-use, boundary, and environmental disputes and teaches CLE courses focused on the practical use of geospatial evidence. He is an ASPRS Certified Photogrammetrist (CP), a GISP, and holds a Master’s degree in GIS from Penn State University.
