Facts about lawyers, judges and courtroom procedure you need to understand

Why your lawyer is almost certainly not a competent trial attorney

The occupation of trial attorney is an endangered species. It is difficult to find an attorney who has as little as a dozen trials under his or her belt. If someone files a lawsuit against you, it is almost a dead certainty that it will never go to trial. These cases almost always are negotiated out. 

If you are looking to be vindicated or just want to see justice done, the courtroom is not where it is to be found. 

Why your attorney will not move to dismiss your case

In the case of mine where it went to trial, I asked my attorney why we did not ask the judge to dismiss the case since it was obvious that even if every element of the plaintiff’s case was true, there still were no actual damages. The damages they claimed were mere speculation.

He explained to me that I was correct in my assessment, but was missing the most important point. The most important point being that the insurance company looked at the case as a $100,000 liability. It was my attorney’s job to get as much of that $100,000 for his firm and for the plaintiff attorney to get as much of the $100,000 for his firm.

Dismissing the case was not in the interest of either attorney. 

What voir dire is and why it is important

Voir dire is the process in which by the attorneys question prospective jurors to determine their fitness for serving on a jury. Voir dire is the first opportunity that jurors have to see the defendant, the plaintiff, and the attorneys. It is also is the first time the prospective jurors have to hear the story behind the suit.

Prospective jurors are human beings and as such, they form first impressions. There is a lot of evidence that many prospective jurors begin to lean in one direction or another as early as voir dire.       

The opening statement and why it is important

After voir dire, the next step is to present opening statements. The opening statement allows each lawyer to frame the case in a way that is favorable to his or her client.

By the time the opening statements are finished, most of the jurors are leaning in one direction or another. In itself, this is not surprising. What is most remarkable is that they will not change their view. In other words, the evidence is irrelevant to which way they will come out in the end. Most jurors make up their mind and do not change it during the trial.         

Why defendants are always at a disadvantage

In a Standard of Care suit, the defense will always be that you met the bare minimum. This is the essence of your defense: I did just enough to get by.

The plaintiff will argue that if you had only done a tiny bit more, everything would be okay. They will have an expert who will testify that, given the specific circumstances at the time, it was foreseeable that if he failed to do just a tiny bit more, the buyer would suffer a great harm.       

Why no one wins a lawsuit except for the attorneys

You have heard this before and it is true. Here is a story that illustrates just how bad this is.

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