In this article I will describe some of the important parts of a serious injury trial or a wrongful death trial:
- Evidence: can be a person’s statements—testimony—or documents such as medical records, employment records, written statements, photographs, etc. Some people on the jury learn by hearing things, some people on the jury learn by seeing things, some people on the jury learn best by touching things; and most people on the jury learn best by a combination of these learning styles. In my experience, it is most effective to show juries pictures, diagrams, and documents as well as to have them hear testimony so that the information is presented in as many forms as possible.
- Testimony: can be the most interesting part of a trial as people will testify differently in court as they testified in their depositions. Juries have been trained by television, movies, plays, and other forms of entertainment to pay attention to stories and to people telling them stories; thus, when presenting testimony, it is most effective to tell stories to illustrate testimony.
- Witness credibility: often a trial will be won or lost based upon the credibility or, in other words, the believability of a witness. The witness who the jury believes and likes will have more power than the witness who the jury does not believe.
- Jury deliberations: I have tried more than 43 cases to juries all over the US. In the cases in which my clients have received favorable verdicts, and in the cases in which my clients have not received favorable verdicts, I am sure that the jury did their best in resolving the dispute. Juries take their duty seriously. They pay attention to the evidence, and they make their decisions based upon what they think is the fairest and most appropriate outcome. It is unquestionably the best system devised to resolve disputes.