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

The 2016 election year is the most partisan in recent history. It seems that many voters are so entrenched that some have wondered if one of the most classic forums of democracy, the political debate, might be rendered moot. After the first presidential debate, legendary journalist Dan Rather even posted on Facebook that, “…whatever civility once existed in our politics is tonight officially dead. Never in the history of televised debates have we witnessed such a show.” But the ultimate question in any persuasive event is, were people persuaded? If they were, then mission accomplished. If they weren’t, then it’s