Counter the Greedy Corporate Client Perception with Stories of Care

Whether your corporate client is the plaintiff or the defendant, you are up against the public perception of corporations as greedy, uncaring entities whose only motive in any and all situations is profit-profit-profit.

Nothing new there. And usually one seeks to “humanize” the corporate client by giving the corporation a “face,” a sympathetic human being who speaks for the corporation. Preferably someone everyone on the jury can relate to and—best case scenario—want to have as a BFF. Too often, a prospect that exists only in your dreams. . .

Which is not to say that the need to put a warm, human “face” in front of the jurors isn’t important, it is, no argument there. But there are other ways to counter the “greedy uncaring” stigma.

I remember waiting for a CEO in the corporate headquarters’ lobby, passing the time by looking at the various photographs, plaques, and other such on the walls. When the legal team assembled with the CEO, the only strategy brought up to humanize the company was the “face” approach. I was confused: on the lobby walls there were plaques honoring the corporation’s sponsorship of a local soccer club, among other awards and the like. The legal team feared that listing the corporation’s community endeavors would seem like pandering. OK, I could see their point, but how did the corporation get involved with the soccer team in the first place? Out of all other possible community options?

Then I got the story. A wonderful, inspiring story that did more than “humanize” the corporation, it showed that humans, with hearts like all the rest of us, invested in more than the almighty dollar—were the engine of the corporation.

Just like WestJet and Canadian North, who in response to the wildfires earlier this year that forced 80,000 people to flee their homes in Fort McMurray, Canada, bent their usual rules to allow pets to travel in the main cabin, even without a carrier or a kennel. Your corporate client may not have as heart-warming or dramatic an example of their humanity, but I guarantee if you but scratch the surface, you will find that the corporation has stories of unselfish compassion.

After all, it’s still just all about people. And people care.

Tailor Your Approach to the Deponent Based on Choice, Not Habit

How you approach a witness in deposition has everything to do with how they are likely to respond.

If you adopt an aggressive style, you will probably be met with one of two possible responses: either the deponent will fight back, getting hostile and defensive, or the deponent will melt into confusion, “I don’t know-s,” and tears.

If you adopt a conciliatory, more friendly approach, you will usually elicit more narrative and thus more information.

If you adopt a neutral, fact-finding approach, you will probably receive informative responses, but not much elaboration or narrative.

Now, depending on your objective, one or the other of these approaches will be most appropriate. Sometimes you can choose to change approaches in mid-stream, such as starting out neutral, gently morphing into friendly, only to become more aggressive down the road.

What’s important is less the approach you choose, as that it be a choice. Too often, lawyers get in the habit of taking a deposition a certain way, and always do so. That’s great, but there may be a more effective approach available than your habitual one, given the nature of the witness and your objective.

Make your choice conscious, and you’ll be that much more successful.

Build Juror-Compelling Stories: Use the “Boy Meets Girl” Formula

Facts are boring. Stories are riveting. Facts put jurors to sleep. Stories keep them awake. Facts are essential to the case; stories are what make those facts persuasive. Each case has a story to tell no matter how apparently dry or complex the case may be.

At this point, plaintiff lawyers usually chortle with glee, they’re all about story! Except when the case is about eminent domain, or the intricacies of a business contract. They then grumble that business and contract cases lack the excitement of a story. For that matter, defense lawyers have the same complaint when it comes to business cases and more. Too often, defense lawyers complain that their side doesn't have a story to tell. This is false. A lawsuit is first about people, and it is the people side of a lawsuit that engages jurors.

A story doesn’t have to be long. In fact, long-winded stories are almost as frustrating to jurors as no story at all. A story encompasses your theme and gives the major points of the case. Preferably three points. That’s really all you need. Challenge yourself to finding your case’s story and then reducing it to the quintessential “Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl.” A beginning, middle and end. Preferably with your client cast as the hero.

Short, sweet, and to the point; that’s effective Courtroom story-telling!