A Sense of Injustice Can Empower a Jury to Undo a Wrong for Your Client
It took Mike Reynolds and Sandra Garcia—two bright young lawyers—less than three weeks after starting work at Windstrom & Crusher to decide that the firm was both uncivilized and unprofessional.
They gave notice on Monday that they were leaving, and on Friday morning they were all packed up and walked out the door.
Two weeks later, they were moving into the new offices of their own firm, Reynolds & Garcia. Angus was one of several lawyers in town who offered to lend them a hand getting started.
Sandra and Mike took Angus up on his offer. They had a personal injury case they had been working on since before they started with Windstrom & Crusher. Before long, it would be coming up for trial. Could Angus give them some pointers on how to do an opening statement for the plaintiff?
Mike and Sandy had heard that Angus likes coffee and scones, so the next morning they showed up at our office before 8 o’clock with a thermos of dark mountain roast coffee and a box of blueberry scones from the Brick Oven Bakery.
Angus was delighted. “Let’s go in the library,” he said. “Coffee and scones are expressly permitted there—but not phones.
“Now as I understand it,” he said, “you’re representing the plaintiff in this case, and both of you would like to try doing your plaintiff’s opening statement.
“That’s fine, but I also want you to switch sides and at some point do openings for the defendant. Looking at the case from the other side’s point of view is one of the most valuable things you can do in getting any case ready for trial. It forces you to think about what are the most powerful things your opponent is likely to do and say. Not only that, but it also opens your eyes to some of the weaknesses in your own case that will need work.
Continue reading, “Strong Words: A Sense of Injustice Can Empower a Jury to Undo a Wrong for Your Client” in the February ABA Journal.
