Each trial lawyer finally will get that case.
The one with no clear story. No righteous consumer. No apparent villain on the opposite aspect. No theme that matches neatly on a PowerPoint slide or a jury marketing consultant’s whiteboard.
The information are messy. The legislation is worse. Your consumer did some issues proper and a few issues that make you wince. The jury goes to dislike somebody, and there’s a non-zero likelihood it may very well be your consumer.
These are the circumstances the place you don’t get to cost up the hill waving a flag. These are the circumstances the place you don’t win by brute drive, quantity, or theatrics.
You win these circumstances by threading the needle.
And threading the needle is a really totally different ability set from profitable the apparent case.
The First Mistake: Pretending This Is a “Regular” Case
Most legal professionals lose powerful circumstances lengthy earlier than voir dire as a result of they deal with them as they might every other case.
They over-argue. They over-explain. They over-defend.
They inform the jury, “My consumer did nothing fallacious,” when the jury already is aware of that’s not true.
In needle-threading circumstances, absolutism kills you. Jurors are remarkably tolerant of imperfection. They’re deeply suspicious of denial.
In case your total principle will depend on jurors believing your consumer is innocent, you might be already in bother.
Your job is to not show perfection. Your job is to outline the place duty ends.
That’s the needle.
Choose the Hill You’re Prepared to Die On — And Abandon the Relaxation
I as soon as knew a seasoned protection trial lawyer who described himself as a mercenary dropped into the jungle. He wasn’t there to debate philosophy or clarify company tradition. He was there to grab one hill, blow up the goal, and get out.
That mentality issues most in powerful circumstances.
You can not defend every little thing. You can not repair each dangerous doc. You can not rehabilitate each witness.
So cease making an attempt.
Establish the one concern that really issues to the decision — not the ten points that make you uncomfortable. Then ruthlessly slim your case round that concern.
Ask your self:
- If the jury believes just one factor we are saying, what does it must be?
- If we lose each aspect skirmish however win this one level, can we nonetheless win the case?
All the pieces else turns into background noise.
Threading the needle is about restraint. And restraint is difficult for legal professionals as a result of we’re educated to reply to every little thing.
However juries don’t reward completeness. They reward readability.
Cease Making an attempt to Win the Case in Depositions
In powerful circumstances, depositions usually are not about dominance or “gotcha” moments. They’re about info, tone, and credibility.
I as soon as defended a case the place the plaintiff claimed a critical cognitive damage. As a substitute of attacking, I let her speak — at size. Calmly. Comfortably. On video.
At trial, we performed that deposition. In her case-in-chief, she all of a sudden couldn’t bear in mind primary information.
The jury seen.
Threading the needle typically means doing much less in discovery, no more. Let the document develop naturally. Let inconsistencies reveal themselves with out your fingerprints throughout them.
Aggression in depositions feels good. It not often helps in shut circumstances.
Give the Different Aspect a Approach to Save Face
In powerful circumstances, opposing counsel is commonly below stress too. They could know the case has issues. They could additionally know that backing down appears like weak point — to their consumer, their agency, or themselves.
If you happen to nook them, they flip the board.
I discovered this lesson over espresso at a Cuban cafeteria close to the courthouse. A plaintiff lawyer good friend summed it up completely: If he is aware of he’s going to lose, give him a method to save face.
That recommendation applies equally to mediation, discovery disputes, and trial.
You don’t have to humiliate the opposite aspect. It’s essential end the sport in keeping with the principles.
Threading the needle means decreasing the temperature, not elevating it. The calmer lawyer normally wins the shut case.
Jury Choice Is The place You Truly Win These Instances
In needle-threading circumstances, voir dire issues greater than openings. You aren’t in search of jurors who will like your consumer. You’re in search of jurors who will draw strains.
You want jurors who consider:
- Duty has limits.
- Dangerous outcomes don’t at all times imply wrongdoing.
- You’ll be able to acknowledge errors with out awarding damages.
If a juror believes each damage requires compensation, thank them for his or her honesty and transfer on.
You aren’t changing anybody. You’re figuring out landmines.
Jury choice will not be about allure. It’s about danger administration.
Inform the Jury the Fact — However Solely the Elements That Matter
That is the place most legal professionals panic.
They hear “inform the reality” and suppose it means confessing each flaw of their case. That’s not honesty. That’s abdication.
Threading the needle means acknowledging the dangerous reality as soon as, cleanly, and with out drama — then reframing it in its correct context.
“Sure, this occurred.”
“No, that doesn’t imply what they need it to imply.”
Then transfer on.
The jury doesn’t want you to apologize. They want you to orient them.
While you linger on the dangerous information, you elevate them. While you normalize them, you deflate them.
Openings Ought to Be Shorter Than You’re Comfy With
In powerful circumstances, lengthy openings are a mistake.
The extra you speak, the extra you clarify. The extra you clarify, the extra you sound defensive.
Your opening ought to do three issues:
- Outline the slim concern that issues.
- Acknowledge the imperfection with out give up.
- Inform the jury what not to determine.
“This case will not be about whether or not one thing unlucky occurred. It’s about whether or not my consumer is legally liable for it.”
That sentence alone threads extra needles than most hour-long openings.
Cross-Examination Is About Management, Not Destruction
In needle-threading circumstances, you don’t have to destroy witnesses. It’s essential information them.
Over-aggressive cross creates sympathy. An under-controlled cross creates confusion.
The candy spot is calm inevitability — the place the witness helps you with out realizing it.
If you happen to’re making an attempt to “win” each trade, you’re lacking the purpose. You’re not scoring factors. You’re constructing permission.
Closing is once you ask for the road.
By the point you shut, the jury already is aware of the case is imperfect. They’re ready to see in the event you respect them sufficient to say it out loud.
That is the place you draw the road clearly and unapologetically.
“Chances are you’ll not like every little thing you heard. That’s okay. The legislation doesn’t ask you to approve of every little thing. It asks you to determine one factor — and just one factor.”
Threading the needle means giving jurors a verdict they will stay with.
Not a heroic verdict. Not a dramatic verdict. A rational verdict.
The Arduous Fact About These Instances
Some circumstances can’t be gained cleanly. Some can solely be managed to a win.
These circumstances reward endurance, humility, preparation, and judgment. They punish the ego.
Younger legal professionals typically suppose nice trial legal professionals are nice as a result of they’re aggressive, charismatic, or fearless.
In my expertise, the most effective trial legal professionals within the hardest circumstances are those who know when not to swing.
Threading the needle will not be flashy. Nevertheless it wins.
And in the event you can win these circumstances, the straightforward ones care for themselves.
Frank Ramos is a companion at Goldberg Segalla in Miami, the place he practices industrial litigation, merchandise, and catastrophic private damage. You’ll be able to comply with him on LinkedIn, the place he has about 80,000 followers.
