Communicating with your Jury is critical in closing argument

Use passion

At different stages of a trial, the trial attorney gets to directly address the Jury, but you have to mindful of the indirect communication that is constantly occurring throughout the trial between the attorney and the Jury. Today we'll talk about the importance of the communication that occurs in closing argument.

Your closing argument started to be written with your Intake interview, right? If not, it should have so always do it that way from now on. Making notes along the way is so much easier than waiting until the night before your closing argument occurs. The key facts never change anyway. And your last minute time can be better used directing and finessing what you already had outlined.

Of course, since you started off in opening by telling the jury what you were going to prove, now is the time to tell the jury how you proved it. And, of course, what the other side did not prove.

Replay the opening promises of each side again and contrast where it was met by you and not your opponent. You don't need to harp on every aspect, but you certainly want to pound home your points on the important issues.

And where it is possible, use the defendant’s evidence that favors your side of the case. Point out statements from your opponent's witnesses and inferences from their evidence and direct support for your case that can be found in your opponent's own case.

Consider replaying video testimony from the trial during your closing - it is extremely powerful.

Also, work the jury instructions into your argument. You should have learned what instructions the judge is going to give the jury so fashion points in your argument around key aspects that the judge will instruct on anyway.

And most of all, be passionate as you tell the story of why your client should win and explain the damages question in plain everyday language and tell the jury what you want them to do. There's no point in letting them wonder about just how much it is that you want.

If you get a rebuttal argument, remember that rebuttal is really rebuttal plus another chance at closing argument. So use it wisely and precisely. It is not a time to do it all over again - it is a chance to point out the errors in your opponent's closing that they just heard and to remind them of why your side is right and why your side should win.

Finally, at the end, always thank the jury. What they are doing in your case is what makes the legal system work and they will never be thanked enough for it.

At each stage of the closing, they will be watching everything you do and listening to everything you say. Your communication will occur not just with words but also with your mannerisms, your body language, your style, and your content. Everything matters, so do it right and with passion.

And remember that your communication with the jury starts before you think it does and ends after you thought it already had. Use every moment of it to your advantage.

Ronald L. Burdge

www.TheLawCoach.com

Helping lawyers help clients for over 25 years.

Communicating With Your Jury - Using the Opening Statement Opportunity

Today we are continuing our series on the art of communicating with a jury during your trial. It starts when you walk into the courthourse and continues during voir dire and everything you do throughout the trial but the next step in our discussion is your opening statement and both the direct and indirect communication that takes place in that phase of a trial.

There have been volumes written about what to say and how to say it in an opening statement so we will keep it short here.


From the movie My Cousin Vinny

 First Rule: Never go to trial in a case that you think you will lose. The jury can "smell" a trial attorney’s lack of confidence in their case. If you think you will lose, you will lose.

Your confidence in your case must be on display from the very start. It shows in your stance, your demeanor, the words you say in your opening - and how you say them. By the time you are finished with your opening statement, the jury must have one single "take away" thought - that you believe in your client's case to your very bones.

That level of conviction, displayed solidly and with confidence, will make the jury think to themselves, "if their attorney is that convinced, he must really be right."

 Second Rule: Never give a weak opening. No one wants a wimp for a trial attorney. And, just as the jury can smell your lack of confidence, your opposing counsel can smell blood in the water. If you don't think you can win the case, then you shouldn't be in the courtroom with it.

 Third Rule: Never promise more in your opening statement than your evidence will deliver in the trial. There's an old business rule that goes something like this, under-promise and over-deliver. That same rule should apply to your opening statement. You have to say enought to make the jury realize that you are probably going to win the case, yes. But you should also hold back a little, so that you can impress the jury with your evidence even better in the trial.

Promise the jury about your evidence, yes. But then over-deliver on the evidence necessary to win your case with an even stronger conviction expressed in your closing argument.

 Fourth Rule: Keep strong eye contact with your jury. If possible, try to avoid using any crutches during your opening statement. Nothing spells conviction quite like standing in front of the jury box and delivering your opening statement bare naked - meaning no notes at all, merely telling them what the facts are that you are going to prove and why you ought to win and why your opponent ought to lose.

Fifth Rule: Innoculate the negative evidence before your opponent emphasizes it. Every case has both good evidence for you and bad evidence against you. If it didn't, there probably wouldn't be a trial occuring. So, in your opening you must deal with it.

 Don't dwell on it, but explain it away with the same conviction and certainty that you use in talking about your "good" evidence too. You can't ignore it for one simple reason: your opponent will be beating that drum loud and clear because it is all they have got to fight you with.

If you use your opening statement to set the foundation of your personal credibility, then you can begin to build the framework for the jury's acceptance of your truth throughout the trial, as they use your reality of the case to reach their verdict later.



Introduce your trial theme and tell your client’s story in the process. Your trial theme must be appealing, simple and fit the evidence. Most of all, your opening should simply tell your client’s story and explain how the law means that they will find in your favor. "Your favor" is how we put it for one simple reason: When the jury finds in favor of you, they will find in favor of your client.

Ron Burdge

http://www.thelawcoach.com/

Helping consumer lawyers win cases

for over 30 years.

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Communicating directly with your jury in voir dire

Today we are continuing our series on the art of communicating with a jury during your trial. From the moment you are both in the same room, in fact when you are walking down the hallway on your way to the courtroom, the communication is occurring.

It just isn't as easy as Perry Mason made it look.



We talked about the basics and the importance of your communication before. We followed that with your "indirect" way of communicating with your jury too. Now, let's talk about the direct communication you can do during voir dire.

Of course, your questions and conversation (and that is what it should be) will revolve around the people and issues in your trial and those will often be unique to each particular trial. But there are some general guidelines that can apply to the voir dire in most trials.

Remember foremost that voir dire is the time for you to make friends with your jury. Do not cut it short and ask every question with a smile and warm expression on your face. You may naturally appear surprised at some juror comments but you should never appear dissatisfied, irritated or upset with a response.

You should be genuinely interested in learning all you can about each individual juror so ask open-ended questions that probe responses and promote conversation. Finding the right open-ended question can be extremely difficult so plan your questions out ahead of time so you can minimize the awkwardness of fumbling for the next thing to talk about.
At the same time, though, your manner should be relaxed and appear to be completely "off the cuff" and not planned out at all. The most effective voir dire should leave the jury thinking that you have nothing but a very bare outline of what you were interested in and you didn't stick to it.

One good technique is to outline the topics and areas that you want to cover. Ignore the language you want to use in the exact questions for the moment. Your starting point is just sort of a bullet list. After you are satisfied that you have everything covered, next start writing out the list of questions - phrased as if you were asking it in front of the jury. Write out every question you think would matter. When you are completely done and satisfied that you have covered it all thoroughly, read through your list one more time and put it away. Then, the day before the trial is to start, go over the list again. Finally, throw the list away.

Okay, that will be hard. But remember that it is more important to have the jury like you that it is to cover every question verbatim. Voir dire is about getting to know the jurors, yes, but it is also about getting them to feel comfortable with you and begin to like you and your manner and style. All of that is far more important than covering every little detail in every question on your list. This exercise (writing an outline and then all the questions and then discarding it) is designed to put the material in your mind in an organized fashion and not to give you a paper crutch to use during voir dire.

You can use humor as long as you do so carefully, lightly and tastefully. Be human and show compassion and attentiveness. Listen. If you don’t listen, you don’t learn about your jurors. If you don’t learn about them, you will seat the wrong jurors. And you know what happens when you seat the wrong jurors in the jury box.

Listening and engaging in conversation is critically important. Find out as much as you can about each juror. Use the customary questionnaires as a springboard for more conversation. At the same time, you have to strike a balance between inquiring and appearance obviously probing. The balance should be struck in favor of casual curiosity. Think of it as being a slightly more formal version of a dinner party where you get a chance to meet someone you do not know and learn more about them - and the object is for you to learn about them and not the other way around.
Knowing your case is critical. Keep it in mind and look for the chance to use juror responses as the opportunity to tie in your case proof and claim elements with juror experiences and responses. That can build a bridge between the jury's common experiences and the case you are going to present. The objective in this technique is to make your case personal for the jury, to get them invested in your side of the case so they want to help your client win.
And if your court process has you excuse a juror in front of the panel, always look at the juror and thank them in the same sentence that you exercise your peremptory. The rest of the panel will appreciate your courtesy and professionalism. If you excuse them only while speaking the judge, the rest of the jurors may think you are cavalier or, worse yet, don't care at all about them.
 
We could go on a long time about the importance of voir dire and the many books and articles that have been written, but we hope these few tips are enough for now.
 
Next time we will talk about your direct communication with the jury in your opening statement and why you need to be wary of the jury's sense of smell.
 

Ron Burdge

http://www.thelawcoach.com/

Helping attorneys win cases for their clients for over 30 years.

Communicating with your Jury the Indirect Way is important too

At different stages of a trial, the trial attorney gets to directly address the Jury, but you have to mindful of the indirect communication that is constantly occurring throughout the trial between the attorney and the Jury. This is the second part of our series on communication techniques and tips for the trial attorney.


Throughout the trial, always show utmost respect and courtesy toward the jury and the judge. Jurors expect it and anything less will offend the jury, even if the judge overlooks the missteps that will occur in the heat of a trial.

A level of “professional” courtesy and respect should always be shown to your opponent and all other persons in the courtroom. This is not the same thing as “utmost” courtesy and respect. Jurors know that in a civil lawsuit the two sides do not agree on something and are fighting each other over it, with the expectation that it commonly involves money.

The result is that the jury expects to see a fight. A courteous and professional fight with words, yes, but a fight nonetheless.

Control your communication with the jury. A trial is about the evidence and witnesses that are presented to the jury for their consideration. Although it should not be about the attorneys or their personal styles, human beings can not help but notice and, at times, be influenced by nonessential and extraneous information. At all times, control your dress, style and mannerisms.

If the jury thinks you are not genuine and sincere with others in the courtroom, then they may not accept your evidence as genuine and sincere - or as truthful. The result is that you may have great difficulty communicating your evidence to the jury in an accepting manner. And that indirect, subtle communication may have occurred without the attorney being fully aware of it at all.

Next time we'll talk about the direct communication with the Jury that occurs in a trial, starting with the Voir Dire questioning of the prospective jurors - where the jury gets their first view and impressions of the attorneys in the case. And the Judge.

Ron Burdge

www.TheLawCoach.com

Helping lawyers win cases for over 25 years.

Communicating with your Jury starts before you talk and continues after you sit down

Today we'll start a series about Communicating With Your Jury in a trial. It happens in several different ways and at several different specific times too.

When does it begin? Your communication with the Jury starts before you talk. From the moment you are both in the same room, in fact when you are walking down the hallway on your way to the courtroom, the communication is occurring.

Every physical aspect of you is being inspected by the jury pool. Your clothes, hair, demeanor, face, attitude, gait, style - everything. Before the trial starts, you are on display and the Jury’s perception of your competency is already on trial. You are “on trial” from the moment you arrive at the courthouse, long before you enter the courtroom, and long before you stand up to begin your voir dire. Knowing that fact can make a difference before your trial even begins.

Your acceptance and your credibility with a jury starts with how you look and how you act. It solidifies with what you say and how you say it.

As a trial attorney, you are both an actor and the director of the stage play that is the trial itself. The jury is the audience. Whether the audience applauds you with a verdict (you win) or throws tomatoes at you (you lose) will depend on how well you present both yourself and your version of the play. The version of the play that you present, of course, is your client’s version of the truth.

Ironically, your opposing counsel is presenting his or her own version of the same play (and their truth) and the Jury is watching both of them unfold in roughly the same time frame. Ultimately, they will applaud only one side’s presentation. They will only believe one side sufficiently to award their verdict.

The prevailing side’s version of the truth becomes, in the process, the truthful reality that is accepted by the Jury and on which they award their verdict.

In most courtrooms you will have three chances to communication directly with the Jury - voir dire, opening statement, and closing argument. You may also get a rebuttal argument, for a final and fourth opportunity. Each of those presents a uniquely different chance to communicate from the communication that will occur during the vast majority of the time that the trial will consumer each day. For that reason, the indirect communication that occurs during a trial must not be ignored. We'll talk more about that next time.

Ron Burdge

www.TheLawCoach.com

Helping lawyers win cases for over 25 years.