OUR STORY
Built for the Bar.
Deb V. Pagnotta, a lawyer, communications faculty, and storyteller, founded StoryBar after she got tired of watching lawyers blithely say "the best story wins" but lose their cases because they didn't know what a story is, much less how to find it, use it, and tell it.
Her take: "it's not rocket science -- it's neuroscience."
First she built two storytelling apps for anybody to use: ULUstory and Storyweaver. She then integrated AI and developed proprietary scoring rubrics to give users meaningful, actionable and objective feedback. From there, she turned her attention to the courtroom itself, analyzing and scoring opening statements from high-profile trials, past and present, to objectively measure their power to move and persuade. And the singular, groundbreaking app StoryBar Coach was born (now in beta).
She has now turned her full attention to providing expert narrative strategy support to any lawyer who wants to tell - and use - the best story. And win.
Every trial lawyer we've ever met has a gift for story. But knowing the science and framework of narrative takes that gift to a higher dimension, which can make all the difference in your practice.
MISSION
StoryBar exists to close the gap between legal excellence and persuasive power. We believe the lawyer with the best case doesn't always win, but the lawyer who tells the best story does. Our platform gives every litigator the narrative tools previously available only to those with jury consultants, unlimited trial budgets, or many decades of experience.
We are not a marketing tool or a content platform. We don't do your legal work for you. We provide focused guidance on how to weave the law, the facts, and the emotions of your case into a winning narrative - one that provides deep insight to the listeners on your client's perspective and experiences. And helps the listeners help your client find the happy ending.
NARRATIVE EXPERT
The Story Behind StoryBar
Founded at the intersection of law, cognitive science, and technology
Deb founded StoryBar as a consulting practice to help lawyers based on the intersection of law, cognitive science, and technology. Growing up in three wildly different countries - Ghana, Switzerland and the United States - Deb learned early on, as the perennial "new kid," how to tell stories to make friends. This skill served as her guiding light through decades of law practice, teaching communication to college students, mediating workplace conflicts and training 1000s on interpersonal skills.
Deb began her career in public service - first at the NYS Department of Law as Regional Director of the Westchester Office and in the Environmental Protection Bureau under AG Bob Abrams, then as Director of Legal Affairs and Acting General Counsel at the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation. She moved her advocacy into private practice as a partner at Kirkpatrick & Silverberg, before spending six years teaching communications at Iona University, where she discovered that the skill every professional needs most is rarely taught: how to tell their story. That insight led her to found ULUstory, PBC and develop a suite of apps including diversityDNA, Storyweaver, ULUesq, and StoryBar Coach.
From the courtroom to a campfire at Everest Base Camp to the stages of The Moth and TEDx, Deb's passion has always been the same - storytelling as a way to connect and move people, no matter the arena. When you work with Deb, you walk away with clarity, confidence, and a command of storytelling as a true driver of strategy - and the ability to use it to connect, persuade, and move the decision-makers in every context, in every room you enter.