At the Gerry Spence Trial College the following rules are taught as the correct approach to jury selection: Be yourself – be real. Embrace the truth even if it hurts Have a conversation with the jury not a lecture Determine the issues in your case. What am I afraid of? Share with the jury yourself before you ask them to share with you Focus on the juror. Mentally shake hands with the juror you are talking to Thank them for…
I’ve just returned from the Washington State Bar Convention in Vancouver B.C. I was fortunate to have chaired the Friday portion which involved talks that were limited to ten minutes each. It always impresses mehow much you can say in ten minutes. When you think about 30 second commercials and the television shows that have 2.5 minutes of cross examination, you realize that we often use far too much time to make our points in trial. Milo Frank wrote a…
I received a form letter asking for money to support a judicial candidate. It’s typical of many such letters we get in the mail. This one is a good illustration of a poor approach to persuasionn. It began with a statement in large capital letters "Harry needs your help." It followed that with"Judge Harry Smith’s future on the court depends upon the support…of friends." It went on to say "We want to make certain that Harry receives the financial support…