Following the rules broken by the Defendants, is the story portion of your opening. I begin my stories with something akin to, “Now let me tell you the story of what happened in this case. “Please come back with me if you will to . . .” Then I tell the story of what happened in our case. I tell the story as if I’m there. In the present tense. Describing what you can see and hear. What you can touch. What people are saying and doing, thinking and feeling. What the Defendant’s do and do not do.

We start our opening statements with what the Defendants are required to do in this case. The Rules. The Rules broken by the Defendants. That caused, for instance, their patient’s death. I almost always limit my Rules to 3. 3 Rules. At most 5.

Whether the Defendants are required by the Hospital’s policies and procedures, their own Standards of Care or state and federal laws, we want the jurors to know the rules in our case immediately before they hear the facts. We want the jurors to apply these rules to the facts of our case as we tell our story in our opening.