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Author: Paul Luvera

Luvera practiced plaintiff law 55 years. He is past President of the Inner Circle of Advocates & Washington State Trial Lawyers Association. Member ABOTA, American College of Trial Lawyers, International Academy, International Society of Barristers and the American Trial Lawyers Hall of Fame. Book Luvera on Advocacy available at Trial Guides Publishing Email paul@luvera.org
Grab their attention first in opening statement – famous first lines

Grab their attention first in opening statement – famous first lines

We know that in this world of headline reporting people draw instant impressions. Human resource people report they spend on average 15 seconds per resume so the opening lines had better be an attention getter. In the first few seconds of every encounter we are instantly evaluated. We are observed from head to toe by demeanor, body language and grooming. Within three seconds impressions are formed about us. When it involves advertising it is the headline that determines whether you…

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Ideas from trial greats

Ideas from trial greats

Last Friday James Rogers and I co-chaired a seminar for the Washington State Trial Lawyers, who have voted to change their name to Washington State Association for Justice. In addition to James and myself we had talented lawyers speak who included Virginia DeCosta and Craig Sims from Seattle; Randi McGinn and Carl Bettinger from New Mexico; Terry O’Reilly from California and Jim Gilbert from Colorado. It was a wonderful seminar on a variety of subjects. Here a few of the…

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Frames, anchors, themes – what are they?

Frames, anchors, themes – what are they?

I received a comment asking about the difference between themes, anchors and frames.Ball’s book on damages is an excellent source for information about this as is Eric Oliver’s publications.The simplest way of explaining these ideas is this: When we talk about framing we are talking about how we describe an issue. For example a bill to allow clear cut logging might be labeled "the reforestation act" A case might belabeled or framedas "all drivers must obey the law when driving…

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