Its hard to write a paragraph that defines who you are.
Who am I? Do we define ourselves? Or do others define us? Or do our actions define us? Identity is challenging. Am I defined by my journey as a Trial Lawyer who wages epic battles with evil corporations and insurance companies? Am I defined by my 7 and 8 figure verdicts? Am I defined by the confidential settlements I can't talk about? Or am I defined by the $50,000 settlements that change my client's lives? Money is not success. But money is success. Am I defined by my childhood? Growing up in South Florida, always wanting to be an actor, a trial lawyer, or a president of something? Does serving as high school student body president make a doosh? I failed (quit) my movie star pursuit in Hollywood, does that boost my cred or detract from it? Am I defined by family?
My three young boys (1,4,6) mean more to me than any case and I would quit practicing law tomorrow if it was somehow necessary to help my kids. There isn't much I wouldn't do for them. I wish I had more hours in the day to spend with them. And yet, when I look at them, I think of my toxic tort client who was diagnosed with Leukemia at 18, has lost one leg and likely another because of a company's toxic emissions, and I imagine if this happened to one of my children. Or am I defined by my pursuit of Karate and mastery of the bow and spear so that one day I may fight like the Viper of Dorne? I want to be the Champion of those who cannot fight for themselves. Who is John Galt?
Most lawyers are boring and bore jurors into not caring. Or worse, they try too hard to entertain them and make the jurors hate them. We need to find a happy medium – keeping the jurors entertained and caring about your case, without pushing them away by acting over the top. I trained as a stage actor throughout college and moved to LA upon graduation to pursue acting before going back to law school. I have found that learning how to emote and act brings clarity, passion, and emotion to your presentations. Most jurors' exposure to lawyers involves watching lawyers on TV. So we need to give them what they want.
I will teach and model how to pick your moments to use dramatic techniques throughout trial to keep them entertained and trusting you. You will not be "acting" in the courtroom, you will be living your true self and expressing your full range of authentic emotions, and maximizing your presentation skills with an eye towards your listener/watcher. This will run the full gamut of trial – from Voir Dire, to Opening, Witnesses direct and cross, and Closing. These techniques include speaking directly to your client, using pauses, incorporating defense counsel into the story theatrically, and storytelling with emotion and intention. It's gonna be a hoot.
We would all love to have days to conduct Voir Dire, but sometimes you just get thirty minutes, or worse, 15 minutes. In Colorado, and in federal courts in Colorado, 15 minutes is the standard. In this time, you have to establish rapport, find the bad apples, and plant seeds for concepts like money for pain, burden of proof, and introducing large damages. How to do it in 15 minutes or less is an acquired skill.
In this hour we will go over exactly how to do it, including how to memorize juror’s names, how to speak to everyone, and pitfalls to avoid. And, perhaps most importantly, how to introduce the idea of large damages in a diffusing way. In my last trial, with 15 minutes of VD in federal court, I told them I would be asking for 40 million dollars and no one batted an eye (they ended up awarding 30 million). Then, I will also cover different ways and formulas at the end of closing to argue for large non-economic and impairment awards – including the per diem, multipliers of economic damages, the “trust me” method, and other creative approaches.
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