Likeability shouldn’t matter in the courtroom. A lawyer’s personality should be irrelevant. The facts should be paramount; they should be the only thing jurors pay attention to. Would that be nice if it were true? The jurors on any one of your jury panels are persuaded by a combination of factors. Facts are but one of many.
Yes, your likability matters. Fortunately, this isn’t high school, and your likability isn’t based on an indecipherable “cool factor.” Likeability is based on traits anyone can easily acquire or express. Among those traits are:
1. Politeness and civility
Jurors appreciate attorneys who are polite and civil with everyone in the courtroom, from clerk to hostile witness to alternate juror.
2. Appropriate passion
Jurors like attorneys who show zeal for their client’s cause, without stooping to unwarranted bashing of the other side. Arguing inconsistencies and the strength of evidence are fine. Pointing out opposing counsel or a witness’s weaknesses is fine. Beating up on opposing counsel or witness is not.
3. Clarity
Strange as it may seem, the attorney who provides the clearest, most to-the-point roadmap through the trial, the easiest-to-understand, succinct examination of witnesses, description of evidence and explanation of jury instructions—is the attorney who is most liked, and will, in most cases, carry the day.
Master these three traits, and you’ll soon be the
“best-liked” and “most-winning” lawyer in the courthouse.
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