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Lessons from the campaign trail: the last two presidential elections showcased several effective strategies you can use to win the votes you want most - the jurors.

Article Excerpt
It's no secret that as plaintiff trial lawyers, we had a lot at stake in the last two presidential elections. So it should come as no surprise that we took a keen interest in the candidates' campaign strategies.

But a funny thing happened on the campaign trail: We started to realize that some of the candidate strategies might work just as well in the courtroom. Keep these techniques in mind as you prepare your next case, and you may just win the votes you need--the jurors'--to ensure your client receives the compensation he or she deserves.

Stay on message

The brilliance of the 2004 Republican campaign was its consistency. On all fronts, its people stayed on message. The Republican mantra was "tough on terrorism." Polling data just before the election revealed that American voters' major concerns were terrorism and safety. The Republicans wisely made the war on terrorism and protecting American families the dominant themes of their campaign.

The economy was second to these concerns, and the Republicans used that to their advantage. Every time the Democrats started talking about the economy--a definite weakness for the GOP--the Republicans turned the voters' attention right back to their fears. Republicans reminded America that it needed a president who wasn't afraid to take on the terrorists.

Trial lawyers should mimic the Bush campaign's steadfastness by staying on message at all points during a trial. Focus on one or two principal concepts that pretrial research showed would most strongly influence the jury. Then, every time your opponent tries to divert the jurors' attention from your message, bring them back to your theme. Do not get sidetracked by an opponent's argument. Resist the temptation to change your argument based on something the other side has said. Instead, dismiss your opponent's argument as ancillary and remind the jurors what the case is really about.

Keep in mind that for a message to work, it must be powerful. Choose meaningful, strong words; your message should be easy to remember and easy to repeat. If you've done a good job developing your message, some jurors will use it in deliberations to convince others who are on the fence.

We saw this done well recently in a fenphen case. The lawyer's message was "conservative, fair, and reasonable." The lawyer knew that in the current tort "reform" climate, people worry about unreasonable jury awards. He emphasized that his client was not asking for anything unreasonable and didn't want the jurors to be anything more than fair. The lawyer repeated these words every chance he got--not just in opening and closing but even in the questions he asked on direct and cross. Result: The jurors awarded the plaintiff even more than what he was asking for.

Likewise, in a case in which 3M was the defendant, one of the authors tagged the company "Make More Money." The message tied in with her theme that 3M was out to maximize profits no matter what the consequences for others. She worked this nickname into direct and cross-examinations and the end of closing argument.

Don't get 'swift-boated'

In 2004, the United States was at war, and there were two candidates running for president. One had served his country in a previous war and the other had avoided service by joining...

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