Topics in "The Art of the Close"
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The attorneys discuss how they view closings within the broader context of trial and detail the goal of their closings.
What you'll learn:
Quotable moment:
You better have earned the credibility that you need to take the case home, and you're arming the jury with the tools to go and do what you've been asking them from opening to do. — Fried on closing argument.
Explaining the right verdict for the right reason
Using video from two of his closing arguments, Goldberg leads a discussion on the importance of explaining what the jury may, and may not, consider when deliberating.
What you'll learn:
Quotable moment:
The fact that you’re opening up with the jury and you’re telling them about your fears of stuff, it gives them a connection with you, also, that helps establish why you’re the most credible person in the room. — Goldberg on explicitly addressing potential concerns jurors might have concerning their verdict.
Telling your client's damages story
Brad Thomas uses video from his closing in a TBI trial to lead a discussion on the most effective ways to detail the impact your client's injury has had on their life.
What you'll learn:
Quotable moment:
If you spend time with your clients and the pain and suffering witnesses, it becomes effortless to tell the story about how this has impacted them. — Thomas on how to find the most powerful moments in telling your client's damages story.
Violations of the rules by defendants
With video from a trial involving the catastrophic brain injury a woman suffered in a fall from a municipal paratransit bus, Goldberg leads the discussion on how to highlight a defendant's rule violations.
What you'll learn:
Quotable moment:
I always say experts are your last resort that you have to go to if you can’t find (evidence supporting rules violations claims) anywhere else. — Goldberg discussing the most valuable sources for presenting a rules violation argument.
Calculating damages for pain and suffering
Eric Rogers uses video from his closing in a motorcycle crash trial to lead the discussion on powerful techniques for breaking down a damages claim.
What you'll learn:
Quotable moment:
When you’re asking for a number like $10 million you can’t make it about a few years of time. It's got to be something life altering, and the bigger you make it, the easier it is for a jury to understand it and to award it. — Rogers on the importance of powerfully emphasizing the magnitude of the impact relative to the damage award.
Using jury charges to focus the jury
With video from trial over a patient's fall from a hospital wheelchair, Goldberg leads a discussion on how jury charges can be an important tool in closings.
What you'll learn:
Quotable moment:
You’ve got to make sure you’re getting the charge, and then once you’ve got it, you’ve got to make sure you’re explaining it to the jury and not just glossing over it.— Goldberg on selecting and properly explaining the jury charges that bolster a case.
Using video of his argument that won a $25 million verdict for a paratransit bus passenger's fall, Fried leads a discussion on the keys to closing rebuttal.
What you'll learn:
Quotable moment:
“Pick some things that, as you're rebutting them, what you're really doing is showing that [the opposing counsel is] being gamey, that they're being unfair, that they don't deserve the credibility in the case. — Fried on opposing counsel arguments that should be incorporated into closing rebuttal.
Next Steps
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