THIS WEEK'S QUESTION:

"How can I give more powerful opening statements?"

- Chris Codling

ELLIOTT ANSWERS:

Chris, I'm glad you asked about opening statements.  Opening statements may be my favorite part of the trial.  I've written dozens and dozens of tips about how to deliver a more powerful opening statement, but let me boil this response down to a single technique: Telling the story of what happened to your client.

Nobody wants to be lectured to, sold something, or interjected into an argument.

But people love stories.

The best trial lawyers in the world know how to do this during their opening statements.  They don't use openings as an opportunity to tell the jury what's going to happen during the trial.  They don't try to push a bill of goods on the jurors and tell them, "This is what the facts are."  The best trial lawyers don't argue their cases during openings.

No... they tell stories.

They tell the story of what happened to their client.  They tell the story of what brought this case to the courthouse.  They tell the story of an injustice - a story that makes the jurors feel, "What happened to his client was wrong.  We have a chance to correct it with our verdict."

Have a question about how to win trials? What issues are you most interested in learning about?  What kinds of problems are you most eager to solve?  What is the biggest concern you have about trying cases?  Send your questions to TrialTips@TrialTheater.com with the subject line "Trial Questions." (Please indicate whether you want attribution for your question or if you'd prefer to remain anonymous.)