On The Way ( Effective Advocacy )

1. Make it brief. Long-winded advocates are boring.

2. Need to be positive. Stress on the strengths of your case, rather than the weaknesses of your opponent's.

Take a firm stand and stick to it don’t hesitate. No creacking.

3. Be clear about what you want. If you want the jury to give your client $2 million dollars, you have

to ask them for it. If you want them to ignore the alibi testimony given by the defendant’s brother,

you have to be clear. You can’t just say, “Well, he’s his brother ........”

4. Keep it simple. Concentrate on the five or ten most important facts in your case. If you can

simplify your case, edit your presentations, and keep the jury focused on your main points, resisting

the temptation to go off on less important tangents, you will present the jury with a case they can

understand and remember. Use simple language rather than legalese.

5. Provide details. This is not inconsistent with simplicity. Simplicity means concentrating on the

main issues and ignoring the rest. Being precise and detailed means going beyond the testimony that

the defendant was drunk, and eliciting from your witness a full description of the defendant as

belligerent, shouting, falling down, spilling his beer, having blood-shot eyes, reeking of alcohol,

stumbling, dropping his car keys four time, and singing off-key Irish songs.

6. Provide motives. Don’t just say that someone did something, say why. This is another kind of

detail. It means that when a witness says she is pretty sure an accident happened at 2:55 pm, ask how

she knows. Elicit that she had just checked her watch because she was caught in traffic and had to be

at the school at 3:00 to pick up her daughter.

7. Use the rule of threes. If it’s important, do it three times. The baby didn’t just die, he suffocated,

turned blue, and died. And it wasn’t just a preventable tragedy, it was inexcuseable, a preventabale

tragedy that wouldn’t have happened if simple precautions had been taken. It’s not just the

breathalyzer that proves the defendant was drunk, the arresting officer and eyewitnesses corroborate

it.

8. Start strong. Psychologists have confirmed what our mothers always told us: first impressions are

important. Therefore, the first thirty seconds of each phase of your trial -- your opening statement,

each direct and cross-examination, and your closing argument -- are critical times when you should

focus on something you especially want the jury to remember.

9. End strong. The last thing jurors hear is also important. Have a big finish. The final thirty

seconds of each phase of your trial -- opening statement, each direct and cross-examination, and your

closing argument -- are also critical times in which you should focus on something you especially

want the jury to remember.

10. Admit your weaknesses. Every case has weaknesses, e.g., witnesses with unsavory backgrounds

or evidence that defies common sense. You cannot ignore these problems; weaknesses do not just go

away. You cannot explain them away, but you can disclose them yourself in a way that makes them

appear trivial. Psychologists have shown that you will usually be more persuasive if you bring out

both sides of an issue yourself than if you adopt the "used-car-salesman" approach of trying to hide

obvious points of vulnerability. But don’t dwell on them.