Handling the Angry Witness

You’re gearing up for trial, you hardly have the time or patience to deal with an angry witness. Yet there you are, in the unenviable position of having to prepare a witness who is angry for any number of reasons:

- The witness is a client, angry that this matter couldn’t be settled or that it even is in litigation at all.

- The witness is furious at being “required” to testify.

- The witness has healed or substantially recovered from the incidents at issue and resents having to deal with “it” all over again.

Whatever the witness’s reason, he or she is mad! And only too happy to tell you all about how aggravated and upset they are. You try to get down to the business of prep with “OK, but we’ve got to focus on preparing you for your testimony,” which is labored, halting and difficult at best.

There is a more effective way. People in highly charged emotional states need FIRST to have their emotions thoroughly acknowledged, in order to clear their minds and hearts sufficiently to think rationally.

Start by reflecting your witness’s emotions: “It is frustrating to have to go through this again.” Let them respond with another emotional salvo, and follow that with something like “This has been really hard on you.” By now, the witness will have calmed down some, because you’re not resisting their emotion, you’re acknowledging it. Notice how the acknowledgement is done in third person, non-inflammatory terms. Once you sense that the witness is less angry, you’re ready to open the prep session with the use of the word ‘and.’ “And that’s why we’re here today—to prepare you so the jurors can understand your perspective.” 

More than anything, emotionally wrought people want just one thing – to be genuinely heard. 

 

It’s Not Just What You Ask, It’s How

How you ask a question of a witness is every bit as important as the subject matter of the question, for the simple reason that the way you ask your question can greatly influence the response.

Choose words that presuppose the response you want to hear. For example, asking "How long did that go on?" will usually prompt a very different response than "How soon was it resolved?" “How long” implies the situation went on for quite some time. “How soon” implies the situation was resolved fairly quickly. "How many people were involved?" implies many people were involved. "Who else was involved?" implies just a few people were involved.

Other common examples are: "How fast was the car going?" (suggests high speed). "At what speed was the car traveling?" (suggests more moderate speed). "How far was the intersection?" (suggests the intersection was far away). "How near was the intersection?" (suggests the intersection was close by).  

As you craft your direct and cross questions, once you’ve got down the information you’re after, hone your questions so the words you use encourage and support the answers you want.

Second Edition of Connecting With Your Client Now Available Through the ABA and Amazon

The just released second edition of Dr. Noelle Nelson’s Connecting With Your Client (2015, ABA Publishing) gives attorneys the most up-to-date communication and persuasive tools needed to achieve greater client satisfaction.

The book contains updated information on:

• Effectively communicating using the latest technology
• Creating rapport that builds your client's trust and confidence
• Communicating billing and other case management issues in ways that support good client-lawyer relations
• Training your associates, legal assistants and support staff to adopt the appropriate attitude toward clients
• Step-by-step exercises that can help defuse uncomfortable situations

Connecting With Your Client includes discussion on how to maintain control over difficult situations and clients, as well as professional solutions drawn from real-life, real-case experiences. Managing partners, executive directors and marketing directors of top-level firms contribute their perspective and share their solutions for attaining client satisfaction and cooperation.

Connecting With Your Client is available at Shop ABA, Amazon or call by 800-285-2221. It is available in print and as an e-book.