In a trial as in life, “you never get a second chance to make a first impression.” Opening statement is the jury’s first impression of the case, the first time the hard structure of the case’s framework is built.  If it is not done correctly in opening, it is not likely to be corrected through the trial.

A couple years ago, while I was teaching a seminar, I sat down to eat breakfast with my co-teacher and co-author for this article, Charles “Chuck” Bennett. He’s a 6-foot-8 former basketball player and was eating off the largest pile of food I’d ever seen on a single plate. After I reminded him it was a buffet and he didn’t have to put everything on one plate, we started talking about opening statement. He asked, “What would you tell your younger self is the most important lesson for being a great trial lawyer?”

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