When your primary witness is the
plaintiff, said witness is likely to complain on the stand, elaborating a
litany of
“He/she/they done me wrong.”
Perfectly understandable; why else would your client have brought suit?
However, to juror ears, an unending stream of complaints sounds like whining,
and jurors don’t like whiners.
Jurors prefer people who, despite
their misfortunes, are valiant, are giving their lives the best shot they can. No,
your plaintiff client needn’t stiff-upper-lip it to where they maintain through
gritted teeth/wired jaw; “All is well.” That isn’t their current reality.
Instead, show that your client is valiant by making sure, during direct, to reveal
the ways in which your client is doing the very best that they can to
survive/heal/improve their situation despite horrendous odds.
Now you have a potential
winner in juror eyes, not a whiner-loser.
