Plaintiff Trial Lawyer Tips

If They Don’t Like You They Won’t Hear You: An Essay on Persuasive Communication

April 28, 2020 Paul Luvera Comments 0 Comment

This article was written by Steven E. Perkel, DSW, LCSW from Steven E. Perkel & Associates, LLC. and published in The Jury Expert May 1, 2010. He has given me permission to reprint it in this blog. Twenty-three hundred years ago in Rhetoric, Aristotle wrote that persuasive speech was dependent on three variables: the speaker, the subject matter, and the listener. More specifically, Aristotle taught us that three key issues impact persuasiveness; the character of the speaker or Ethos, the…

GERRY SPENCE DAMAGE ARGUMENT IN A BIRTH INJURY CASE

April 15, 2020 Paul Luvera Comments 0 Comment

I’ve previously quoted from a jury argument Gerry Spence made in the trial of Hunter vs Lewis which took place in Utah in 1982. https://plaintifftriallawyertips.com/excerpts-from-gerry-spence-argument-in-hunter-v-lewis-malpractice-case The case involved a birth injury to a child. Here are some additional excerpts of his argument relating to money: I haven’t made your job easy. I’ve asked for $40 million dollars. People have said, “how could you ask for $40 million?” Some people are aghast, some even outraged, some have tried to shame me,…

FIVE BASIC CONSIDERATIONS REGARDING TELECONFERENCING DEPOSITIONS

March 25, 2020 Paul Luvera Comments 0 Comment

The coronavirus situation has had a dramatic impact on the processing of damage cases. Requirements for social distancing and, in some states, requirements to shelter at home have brought the judicial process to a halt. In many jurisdictions’ trials have been stopped and courthouses virtually closed. However, there is a need for ongoing discovery procedures to preserve evidence in anticipation of when trials will resume. One possible solution involves remote teleconferencing meetings and teleconferencing depositions. Technology allows one to connect…