Jurors will not find for what they
don’t understand. Simple, right? Yet laying your case out in such a way that
jurors readily understand its ins and outs can be more challenging than it at
first appears.
You see, you may be so deeply
steeped in your case, the issues of your case, the whys and wherefores of your
case, that you can’t imagine what it is like not to know about them. You’ve
fallen victim to the curse of your own knowledge.
Certainly, you are well aware that
the jurors are uninformed as to the legal aspects of the case, but too often,
you don’t tune in to how necessary it is to explain everything about your case
in a way your jurors can readily and easily understand. Including whatever
testimony your experts proffer.
This doesn’t mean giving excessive
detail. It doesn’t mean to “talk down” to jurors, either. Jurors are no
different from the folks you interact with every day, from the barista to your
mechanic to your support staff. They just have different areas of expertise -
in which they are far better informed than you, BTW.
Build your jurors’ confidence in
their ability to come to a wise and appropriate verdict by streamlining your
arguments and presenting your key evidence with stunning clarity. Wherever you
can, use visuals to further clarify and explain.
If at all possible, run a focus
group pre-trial of individuals similar to your jury pool. They will tell you,
with unerring accuracy, exactly what persons not afflicted with the curse of
your particular knowledge will understand or fail to understand.
Now you are
much better prepared to win at trial!
