One of the most difficult challenges in preparing a witness for trial or deposition testimony is helping them understand the unique setting that is witness testimony.  It is unlike almost any other communication event. The question-and-answer format provides a certain amount of control to the questioner, making it a more one-sided event than many other settings. The obligation to respond to every appropriately made question and the inability to ask questions in return (save for a request for clarification) creates unique challenges for witnesses. Witnesses also have to be reminded that this is not like a lunchtime chat with friends

There is an ongoing debate about the priorities in current foreign policy between “Hard Power” leadership and “Soft Power” leadership. In simple terms, hard power leadership refers to things like military power and forward military projection to deter aggression, enhance readiness, etc. When one thinks of this, the lines are drawn most clearly back to the Pentagon. Soft power leadership refers to diplomacy, economic aid, and a line drawn more directly between other countries and the State Department. Both are a means of exerting influence on others in the global sphere. We think about these concepts every time we do

Originally pushed in the King County Bar Association Bar Bulletin, March 2017. Have you ever walked away from a meeting with a witness thinking, “She’s going to do just fine,” only to be dismayed when the person testifying is not the same person you prepped? Good witness preparation is more than sitting down and talking to the witness about their testimony. But too often witness preparation is just that – an attorney sitting across the table from a witness telling them about the case, their role in the story, and reviewing key documents. The trouble is that witnesses are often

If the cast of Saved by the Bell had jury duty, Zach Morris (The Adult Years) would be a likely candidate for jury foreperson. Personable, popular, and persuasive, the other jurors would look to him for his opinions and interpretation of the case. If you’re not familiar with the show, Zach was the typical “popular guy” inserted into any television show. He wasn’t afraid to speak-up in class (even if he didn’t always have the right answer), he was confident, and he was charismatic. And although he wasn’t the brightest student at Bayside High, based on his personality, his career

One part of our case strategy sessions involves creating an outline of the case narrative. We call this the Case Story, and it typically entails outlining topics that serve as the segments of your overall case presentation. When working with attorneys representing corporate defendants, we often find ourselves suggesting an alternative strategy to the natural tendency to make the start of the story, “The Corporate History” or “The Good Work of the Company.” That tendency is natural and intuitive given that the plaintiff will have just completed an hour-long attack on your client’s conduct. It makes sense to want to

I “sort of” want you to stop saying that. No! I do want you to stop. Not kind of. Not sort of. I do want you to stop saying “sort of.” “Sort of” appears to have become the vocal filler of the year. As formal speech-making has become more casual, the use of vocal fillers has increased. You remember the rise of “valley girl” talk in the 80s. Parents cringed at the frequent insert of “like.” “Mom, Jenny and I are “like” going to go to the store.” Vocal fillers are interjections of words that fill what might otherwise be

To say that some were surprised by the results of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge standoff trial would be an understatement. And it didn’t just come as a surprise to the prosecution – it’s likely that attorneys on both sides of the issue were surprised by the verdict returned by the jury. One of the defense attorneys was quoted in the Seattle Times as saying, “This is off-the-charts unbelievable… I had been telling my client you can count on being convicted. You don’t walk into federal court and win a case like this. It just doesn’t happen.” Enter, the post

The Holy Grail of trial persuasion is to speak to jurors in a manner in which they can adopt an advocate’s or witness’s words, language and themes when they think about the case and deliberate to a verdict. Language shapes our thoughts, justifies our feelings, directs judgment, and can be used to influence others. Try and make a judgment about a situation now that does not involve speaking to yourself, selecting words and phrases that account for a situation and justifies your judgment. In Case Strategy work we do for jury trials, clients often ask us to help them develop

With each passing year, more and more millennials begin to both be eligible for jury service and choose to show up for their day or days in court. As this cohort starts to make their presence felt in jury trials, how should attorneys react to their increased attendance? A few simple considerations can make this situation fairly manageable. First, it is important to define this group of individuals. Definitions vary, but the most common definition is those people born between 1980 and 2000. That means they range in age from 16 to 36. There was a time when it was rare

Many of us at Tsongas are college football fans. Actually, that may be understating the passion some of us feel for our respective alma maters. And since none of us went to Alabama, the college football season usually brings us as much pain as it does joy. Even if you don’t follow college football, chances are that you follow some sports team and may empathize with us when we say that we just aren’t the same people following a loss as we are following a win. We can be grumpy for a few days. As it turns out, judges are