The work
The scrolly work behind Scrollbrief
Scrollbrief comes out of Michael Wilhelm’s scrollies: 20 published interactive essays at iamwilhelm.com. Each one reads in full without scripts, works on a phone, supports screen readers, and ships with a plain-text twin and its sources.
Three pieces, and what each shows a trial lawyer
A mechanism, explained
How to Throw a Flame Twenty Miles
How Augustin Fresnel’s ringed lens gathers lamp light into a beam a ship can see from twenty miles out. Five numbered parts, with sliders for distance, lamp focus, ring count and lamp height, a rotating flash, a list of real lenses and lighthouses, and sources.
For a case: how a machine, a product or a process failed, shown so a juror can work it by hand.
Evidence, on the record
Nobody Sees the Same Sea
Five ways water, light and animal eyes change what seeing means, from color loss at depth to the mantis shrimp’s color sensors. It closes with a species list and an “On the record” section of sources.
For a case: expert material made plain, with every claim traceable.
Built for any reader
The Snowflake Machine
A touch-first symmetry toy. Draw one line and mirrors turn it into a butterfly, a starfish or a snowflake. Nothing drawn is saved or sent.
For a case: interaction a reader of any age understands in seconds.
Sample case stories, in build order
Samples use closed public cases or labeled composites, so they can be shown openly.
| Sample | Case type | Source | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| What the Jury Saw | Injury | Liebeck v. McDonald’s Restaurants, 1994 verdict | Four steps live on the home page; full piece first in the build order |
| None Like Hers | Civil rights | Gonzalez v. Trevino, decided 2024, settled 2025 | Specified; second in the build order |
| Sentencing composite | Sentencing | Invented facts, labeled as a composite | Specified; third in the build order |
The method carries over
A scrolly has four parts: a pinned visual that changes as the reader scrolls, short text steps that cue those changes, a plain-text version of the whole piece, and a sourced list of its claims. A scrollbrief keeps all four and swaps the sources for your record.
Michael Wilhelm also publishes his method, including which parts of a piece are machine-assisted. The same candor applies to client work: each firm approves in writing which tools may touch its files.