Ever heard the phrase, “a $1,000 saddle on a $10 horse?” While a $1,000 saddle on a $10 horse may look good (at least the saddle will), it’s not likely to win a horserace. If I want to win a horserace, I’d rather have a $10 saddle on a $1,000 horse. Wouldn’t you?

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.

Not long from now you will again find yourself sitting at your desk with a mountain of discovery you fought hard to get. You will be preparing your case for trial. Likely the most important case in your client’s life. All of your work. The risk you took. The piece of your life that you left behind for your client and her case. It all comes down to this.

In your opening you’ll introduce the main witnesses, the time period, place, and scope of the plot. For trial lawyers, the buildup includes unfolding subplots, introducing evidence to prove your case and exploiting witnesses to show the jurors what’s at stake. The relationships between the plaintiffs and other witnesses create a narrative arc, or plot, for your trial as much as it does for a work of fiction.

As for telling your story, your scenes will drive your directs and crosses at trial. You’ll play out your scenes and retell portions of your story with every witness you call, and cross-examine. You will begin to see too what’s at stake for each witness.

Unless you find your story, your jurors may be bored and uninspired to act. That’s never good for a plaintiff’s trial lawyer. After all, at the end of the case you’ll tell your jurors you want things changed.

Days like this are inevitable for a trial lawyer. What do you do? Ask yourself this question. What’s really going on here? No. Really! Ask it again. However deep you’ve been digging for the past 2 years, dig deeper. You must find and you must embrace the story – your story – the one you can’t wait to tell those jurors.