I like Roger Dawson’s ideas and his books. I have re-read his book Secrets of Power Persuasion and would like to share a few of the ideas he writes about. However, I recommend you buy the book and read it for yourself. He argues that while pain and pleasure are powerful persuaders, the best method is the "carrot and stick" approach. Apply the pressure of reward and the pain of punishment both. Consistent with other writers, Dawson recommends giving the…
I made some random notes at a recent plaintiff’s seminar I attended. I thought I’d pass them on for you to think about. I thought some of these ideas were particularly worth considering for further development. One speaker ran a research company that was constantly looking for new and imaginative ideas. The motto of the company was "invent, disrupt, inspire." When I heard that I thought of how that applies to trial lawyers. They must continually force themselves out of…
A friend of mine, who is a great trial lawyer, has a trial where the issue is the hospital’s negligence for allowing an unqualified doctor privileges resulting in injury to the patient. He wanted some suggestions on concepts that might be used. I told him that I didn’t have anything original, but shared some general ideas. While we all aren’t going to have a case like that, the odds are we will have a case where the issue is negligent…