Unconventional Lawyering Leading to Conventional Credibility
Jeff S. Korek and Abraham Z. Melamed write: Oftentimes lawyers become so entrenched in doing the orthodox that they end up losing out on great opportunities to strengthen credibility with a jury. What's more, attorneys can get caught up in the vision of fighting tooth and nail, line by line, and as a result miss out on important perspectives that can help their case simply because they refuse to think outside the box.
July 16, 2015 at 11:18 PM
11 minute read
We have all heard the story of the defendant who is on trial for murder, but despite months of investigation, the police never recovered the victim's body. So, in the defense attorney's closing statement, he devises a clever ploy. While addressing the jury he says, “Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury, I have a surprise for you. Momentarily, the presumed murder victim will actually walk into this courtroom!” And with that, he points to the courtroom door.
Immediately, everyone in the courtroom turns to the door in great anticipation. Yet, a couple of minutes pass, and nothing happens. Finally, the lawyer turns toward the jury smiling and says, “the truth is, the presumed murder victim will not be walking through the door, I made that up. However, everyone here looked on with great anticipation, expecting the victim to walk through the door. That means you must have reasonable doubt as to whether anyone was ever killed in this case, so I must insist you return a verdict of Not Guilty!”
The ending to this story varies greatly from one version to the next. Some claim the jury still returned a guilty verdict, and others claim the ploy worked and the defendant was acquitted. Most believe the story is simply a fable crafted in the scripts of Perry Mason and the sort. But fact or fiction, the story illustrates an important point. Thinking outside the box, and practicing unconventional lawyering skills, can often lead to credibility with a jury which run-of-the-mill lawyering could never achieve.
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