In 2002 political advisers James Carville and Paul Begala published a book they entitled “Buck up, Suck up… And Come Back When You Foul Up.” Although dated in terms of its publication, most of the observations they make that relate to communication and persuasion are as relevant today as they were when they wrote it. While the book is intended as advice for politics and politicians, the fundamentals they discuss apply directly to trial work. Here are a few of…
I’ve long been a fan of David Ball’s advice about plaintiff trial concepts. His book David Ball on damages 3 is available from Trial Guides https://www.trialguides.com/ and should be in every plaintiff trial lawyers library. I recently reviewed personal notes I’d made of some of his ideas, which I’m sharing to encourage study of his publications and suggestions. These are just some random ideas from my notes of his writings. While physical pain is important, loss of mobility and loss of independence is…
My friend, California trial lawyer Mark Swendsen, referred me to a TED talk by Russell Dean “Puppets and Perception” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_Molj8L6n. Dean’s talk involved using a puppet to illustrate the subject of his talk. He showed a diagram of the location of the Amygdala part of the brain at the bottom of the brain and the Limbic system. From an evolutionary standpoint it is the very primitive part of the brain, responsible for emotional responses such as fear, anger and lust. It operates…