OPENING STATEMENTS THAT GRAB THE JURY “He who wants to persuade should put his trust not in the right argument, but in the right word. The power of sound has always been greater than the power of sense.” Joseph Conrad SOME PRELIMINARY THOUGHTS The legal function of an opening statement is to tell the jury the nature of the case, what the issues are and what the party proposes to prove in support of their claims. It is usually added…
“The most powerful person in the world is the storyteller. The storyteller sets the vision, values and agenda of an entire generation that is to come.” – Steve Jobs . We have cases where the facts or circumstances involve an issue of contributory negligence. In some cases there has been a judicial finding of our client’s negligence or it might involve a tactical decision of ours to concede some percentage of fault on the part of our client or…
In spite of all of the writing and seminars on the subject of opening statements, too many trial lawyers maintain a wrong and overly simplistic view of this important step in the trial. Remember, the opening statement is the critical first impression with the jury about the case. Too many lawyers take the easy road of telling a chronological narrative is if it were a police report instead of a compelling emotional story. Opening statements are important. That’s when most jurors…