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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
UNDERSTANDING WHY JURORS WANT TO BLAME THE INJURED PLAINTIFF

UNDERSTANDING WHY JURORS WANT TO BLAME THE INJURED PLAINTIFF

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Tom Wolfe, in his book The Right Stuff, described how military pilots reacted when a fellow pilot was killed during test flights. He wrote: “The other pilots shook their heads and said it was a damned shame, but he should have known better than to wait so long before lowering the flaps.” When another friend was killed after climbing and then diving straight into the bay, they said  “How could anybody fail to check his hose connections? And how could…

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MISCELLANEOUS IDEAS REGARDING MEDICAL MALPRACTICE CASES

MISCELLANEOUS IDEAS REGARDING MEDICAL MALPRACTICE CASES

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Medical malpractice cases are some of the more difficult liability cases we are asked to handle for injured clients. In these cases, words and phrases can often be of particular importance. For example, statements that combine common sense with ideas of negligence are powerful: “Caution and double checking is a part of good medical care.” Another idea is when introducing a statement consider using rhetorical questions rather than statements. For example: Why are we here? What did the doctor do…

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PREPARE IN ADVANCE FOR NEW CLIENT CONFERENCES WITH A CHECKLIST

PREPARE IN ADVANCE FOR NEW CLIENT CONFERENCES WITH A CHECKLIST

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A common mistake lawyers make in our communications with people is to assume that people understand what we have said or already know something that was left unsaid. Too often in our jury trials we use abbreviations or acronyms assuming everybody understands their meaning when they don’t. The more experience we have and the more we know about a subject, the greater our tendency to forget to clearly, completely and simply explain it to others. When we are meeting with…

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