Law school students are generally focused on achieving grades that they hope will ensure a position with a law firm after graduation. As a result, they approach the study of law intellectually. They learn legal principles and how to analyze issues legally in their studies. In addition, they verbalize their intellectual understanding in school. As a result of this background, when they begin the practice of law they approach trial from a legalistic viewpoint, over-try their cases, and generally talk too much and too long. The problem is that jurors of today have short attention spans and respond to messages that get to the point. Jurors do not make decisions intellectually, but rather from an overall impression of what the case means to them as filtered through their bias, past life experiences, and key values.

As a result of their training, lawyers are not good listeners. They dominate conversations. They talk entirely too much and for too long. Worse, they speak from their legal intellect and not the mindset of normal jurors. Trial communication should speak to the listener’s frame of reference, not intellectual logic. It should be short, to the point, and with emotional appeal. It should be in the form of a story.

Here are a few examples from eulogies at funerals that clearly demonstrate how a brief, simple message can be very powerful. These examples are not long. They are not intellectually logical. They are not detailed, but they tell a story and do so in a simple well-crafted manner. That’s what we, as trial lawyers should strive to achieve.

In December of 2016 a TV series called “Delicious” premiered. It was a four-part first series that was unique because the show opened with the story told by a deceased man. This illustrates that your trial stories can be told from virtually any perspective, including a story by a deceased person. In a funeral scene, a mother gives a brief eulogy about her deceased son.

“No mother should bury a son.
The very idea is an affront to decency and against God.
And yet here I am. Leo was my only child. I loved him very much.
All of you know my son. And some of you loved him, too.
But I am the one who held him in my arms when he was born.
And held his hand when he crossed his first busy street.
And I let him weep on my shoulder when his foolish, sixteen-year-old heart was broken.
All of that was mine. And mine alone.
Some of you may believe that age diminishes those feelings.
I stand here to tell you that it doesn’t. Thank you.”

The Kominsky Method was a Netflix TV series starring Michal Douglas and Alan Arkin that was first broadcast in 2018. It features a scene when Alan Arkin speaks at his wife’s funeral. His
Eulogy was very brief but also very powerful, showing again that brief, to-the-point messages can be more effective than long ones.. Here is what he said:

“Dear Ellen, we have been husband and wife for 46 years. In all that time, I have never not been in love with you. I’ve been angry with you, confused by you, even hurt by you, but never not in love with you.

You were the woman I was looking for ever since I started looking. Beautiful, smart, funny, strong and willing to sleep with me, eventually.

If something good happens to me at work, it wasn’t real until I shared it with you. If something bad had happened, it was only tolerable because I had to complain to you. If I heard a funny joke, my first thought was, “ I cannot wait to tell you.” Elaine.” Then I would get to hear your laugh, or you would roll your eyes and tell me the joke was a stinker, and we would both laugh.
I honestly do not know how to carry on without you, but I will because you told me to and in no uncertain terms.”

Another example of a brief message with eloquent persuasion and meaning was that of the son of President Ronald Reagan at his father’s funeral in 2024. Here is part of what he said about his father:

“He is home now. He is free. In his final letter to the American people, Dad wrote, “I now begin the journey that will lead me into the sunset of my life.” This evening, he arrived.
History will record his worth as a leader. We here have long since measured his worth as a man: Honest, compassionate, graceful, brave. He was the most plainly decent man you could ever hope to meet. He used to say, “A gentleman always does the kind thing.” And he was a gentleman in the truest sense of the word: A gentle man.
Big as he was, he never tried to make anyone feel small. Powerful as he became, he never took advantage of those who were weaker. Strength, he believed, was never more admirable than when it was applied with restraint. Shopkeeper, doorman, king or queen, it made no difference. Dad treated everyone with the same unfailing courtesy — acknowledging the innate dignity in us all.
The idea that all people are created equal was more than mere words on a page, it was how he lived his life. And he lived a good, long life — the kind of life good men lead. But I guess I’m just telling you things you already know.”

Conclusion

All of these examples are examples of what we as trial lawyers should strive for – to make our communications focused on the listener’s frame of mind, thinking as well as brief, with emotion and as a story outline.
It was Mark Twain who said: “If you want me to give you a two-hour presentation, I am ready today. If you want only a five-minute speech, it will take me two weeks to prepare.” It’s easy to give an undisciplined, rambling speech without focus. It’s hard to take the time to craft a brief but powerful speech. But the first is boring and the second is motivating. Learn to communicate in short, simple, and understandable ways.