Plaintiff Trial Lawyer Tips

BETRAYAL, NOT MISTAKE, IS THE ESSENTIAL MESSAGE FOR WINNING NEGLIGENCE CASES

July 12, 2017 Paul Luvera Comments 0 Comment

I have written frequently about the importance of a message of betrayal in negligence cases, especially medical malpractice. But, I continually see lawyers presenting their cases as a mistake. They present a case involving an error, a mistake or a negligent act and then expect the jury to follow the law. But, jurors are driven by their value systems irrespective of the jury instructions. When a case of negligence is tried to a jury of conservative people, too often the…

JURY SELECTION AND THEME IDEAS FROM ERIC OLIVER

July 4, 2017 Paul Luvera Comments 0 Comment

Eric Oliver is a long time friend and a very experienced jury consultant. http://www.eric-oliver.com/ He wrote an article about communications “Heard Mentality.” Some of the observations Eric made are important to remember in our practice and are summarized below: Jurors begin their understanding of our story with a theme. We all make sense of case stories by starting at the most general level and working down to details. A theme provides a general direction. If you do not provide a…

ALAN ALDA’S ADVICE FOR BETTER COMMUNICATION SKILLS

June 24, 2017 Paul Luvera Comments 0 Comment

The actor, Alan Alda has written a book If I Understood You, Would I Have this Look on My Face? I found it has very helpful advice based upon his interviewing various experts. Here is what he has written on some of the subjects I thought of particular interest. I recommend this book for a complete understanding. The Benefit of Ignorance I’ve often written about the problem of trial lawyers who approach their trial work from primarily an intellectual level….