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Month: November 2023

WHAT THEY DON’T TEACH YOU IN LAW SCHOOL YOU NEED TO KNOW

WHAT THEY DON’T TEACH YOU IN LAW SCHOOL YOU NEED TO KNOW

.          . . One September morning in 1959 Skagit County’s only two superior court judges, Charles Stafford and Arthur Ward, administered my taking the oath to become a brand new lawyer. Also taking the oath was  David Welts. There weren’t more than thirty-five lawyers in the county and less than 3,000 in the whole state. The practice of law wasn’t very complicated at that time. The state statutes fit in two binders compared with the volumes of law today….

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THE POWER OF ANCHORING IN TRIAL

THE POWER OF ANCHORING IN TRIAL

Most attorneys who work in civil litigation are familiar with the “anchoring effect,” and know that suggesting a number has an influence on damages. Numerous studies have shown that the amount of a juror’s damages decision is strongly affected by the number suggested by the plaintiffs’ attorney, independent of the strength of the actual evidence. Research has repeatedly demonstrated that, independent of the evidence, asking for more in trial raises the chance of getting more on the verdict form. And the…

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