Classic Juror Misunderstandings

The brilliant cartoonist, Wiley Miller ("Non Sequitur"), captured the misunderstandings between men and women as few others have. For example, the wife says: "Let's go shopping." The husband hears: "Let's go drain the life force from your body." The husband says: "Honey, are you almost ready yet?" The wife hears: "Life as we know it will cease to exist unless you can alter the space-time continuum."

My experience with jurors has led me to conclude that similar misunderstandings occur regularly in the Courtroom between attorney and juror. For example, the lawyer says: "Negligence." The juror hears: "Forgetfulness." The lawyer says "Proximate." The juror hears "Approximate." The lawyer says: "Standard of care." The juror hears: "Like OSHA." The lawyer says: "Preponderance." The juror hears: "Heavy thinking."

I could go on and on. Lawyers like to say a graphic will "depict" things. Jurors need to know what the graphic will "show." The lawyer says this event was "prior" to the current one. Jurors want to know what came "before" what. And "aforementioned" doesn't even compute.

You must speak a language the jurors understand if you are to persuade them. For example, explain legal terms such as negligence so there can be no confusion with the more common use of the term, forgetfulness. Use words you used before you became a lawyer; common words, easy to understand words, words that don't require more than a high school education.

The Juror-Engaging Power of Story: Beyond the Individual

Research has demonstrated repeatedly the power of story-telling. Indeed, it's easy for most attorneys to tell the story of their injured client or the malfunction of a product. Stories of individuals, plaintiff or defense, are also fairly easy to summon. But when it comes to businesses, companies or corporations, lawyers too often forget the power of story, and give but the driest of facts.

Yet it is story that will engage the jurors, story that will enable them to relate to your corporate/business client, story that will give them points of identification to their own lives, to their experience.

I remember waiting in a corporate reception area for the attorney and client I was to work with that day. All around the walls were photographs, plaques, and other corporate memorabilia. When I asked the attorney and client for the story of the corporation, as opposed to the facts of its incorporation, they were at a loss. So I told them the story, as I had gleaned it from all that was portrayed in the reception area. Both were amazed that I could weave a story from so little. But it wasn't so little! Those photographs and plaques gave the heart of the corporation, its community involvement, the background on why it was founded in the first place.

There was more, of course, but my telling primed the pump.

Don't let your business or corporate clients be story-less entities. There is a story behind every venture, and that's how you engage juror sympathy. Look for the story, mine for it, it is well worth the effort.

Men and Women Are Different: Choose Gender-Friendly Words in Formulating Voir Dire

Men and women are different. No big surprise there. They think differently. Still no big surprise. So it should come as no surprise that men and women respond differently when asked a voir dire question in the same way. But this isn’t a thought that occurs to attorneys most of the time; they ask questions of prospective jurors as if gender didn’t matter.

Gender matters!

Ask a male juror how he feels about something, and he’s likely to say “I dunno” or “Not much one way or the other.” Ask a male juror what his opinion is on the same matter, and he’ll usually expound with gusto. He will tell you more about himself by the opinions he stands firm on, and those he’s middling about or indifferent to, than just about any other indicator (except occupation).

Ask a female juror how she feels about an issue, and she’s likely to be verbose. She knows exactly how she feels about everything and is usually willing to share. Ask a female juror her opinion and you might not get much of anything. For the most part, “opinion” is for female jurors what “feelings” are for male jurors.

Word choice matters! Certainly the above is a generalization, and some women hold strong opinions, formulated as such, and some men are frank about their feelings. When it comes to voir dire, however, start by using the word that generally elicits the most informative response from the gender you are addressing. You can always make a different choice as you observe the response you get.

And oh, by the way, “What has your experience been with XYZ?” tends to be gender-neutral, in that both male and female jurors tend to be equally forthcoming when asked about their experience or lack thereof.

The Challenge of Celebrity Clients - New CAALA Article

 

The October issue of CAALA's The Advocate contains an article I authored called "The Challenge of Celebrity Clients." Here's the link: http://bit.ly/1D9ND7c.