Insights from Proskauer's Trial Lawyers.
Manuel Cachán: I would say that 95% of trials in the entire judicial system are actually completely decided by the facts, not by lawyers, and the facts oftentimes are not all that close. The kinds of cases that we do, the facts are very, very close. And so the other side is going to have a compelling argument, your client's going to have a compelling argument, and something that can make the difference See more +
Insights from Proskauer's Trial Lawyers.
Manuel Cachán: I would say that 95% of trials in the entire judicial system are actually completely decided by the facts, not by lawyers, and the facts oftentimes are not all that close. The kinds of cases that we do, the facts are very, very close. And so the other side is going to have a compelling argument, your client's going to have a compelling argument, and something that can make the difference is whether people believe you, whether they see you as a truthteller and whether they have an emotional connection to you.
Making eye contact for example during a jury address, and I don't mean looking above their heads or looking at all of them at the same time, but looking at each juror in the eye and then moving on to the next person, is really, really important.
I think you'll find sometimes too that there will be one or two or three jurors that you feel a special connection to, and hopefully they're the people who you've pegged as leaders on the jury. From voir dire you have an idea that these are going to be people who, when they get back to deliberate the case, are going to be folks who are leading the discussion.
I like looking particularly at those folks, not only in a jury address, but for example in a cross examination, if you make a particularly strong point, or there's a pause where you can tell the witness is struggling to find an answer that's not going to compromise him or her, and in that moment of pregnant silence, there's a value to that. And you turn and look for a moment and make eye contact with one or another of these jurors, it can be very powerful, because they begin to think that they're sort of rooting for you, they're on your side.
So, again, when I think cases are really close, like ours are, that's absolutely critical. It's critical in any case, but it's really critical when a jury could go either way. See less -
