Katherine:

Every little girl has the right to believe that her daddy is the most brilliant mentor she’ll ever have.

For the lucky little girls, this is true.

I am one of the lucky ones.

My daddy was the greatest influence I had in my life, in my career, in the theater.

My daddy, Dr. Eugene Nelson James, was recognized internationally as THE authority on George Farquhar, the great English restoration playwright. When the Royal Shakespeare Company did one of G.F.’s plays, they used my father’s theories and scholarly work. So did many other theater companies and universities (not everyone produced “The Beaux Stratagem” by the way). His knowledge of the scholarly world of western theater, from the Greeks to Shakespeare to Stoppard, was not matched. From the time I could toddle, he taught me about the greats who came before us – who they were, why they wrote the way they wrote – what it all meant. My love and reverence for the theater is all Daddy.

My daddy E. Nelson James wrote plays. He was produced in theaters from The Goodman to universities to his own favorite playhouse, The Stagecoach Players of DeKalb, Illinois. He taught me that there was always time to write, that if you write roles for the people you love that they will work hard to fulfill them (what amazing roles he wrote for me!). He would say to me, “Look at your first page! How do you do that? You are amazing – you have them spring to life right away!” My belief in myself and my ability to find time to write my plays is all Daddy.

My daddy Nelson James was a nurturing director. He directed lots and lots and lots of plays – from the classics to modern light plays to his own plays. He was my first director – when I was five years old – and I worked in shows he directed until I left for California after college. Anytime I was directing a show and ran into a problem, I could call on him. Daddy always had my back.

My daddy Nelson James loved to act. Before I acted (so since I started when I was five years old we are going back) I remember how astonishingly brilliant it was to see him change at rehearsal. First he would be Daddy – talking with the other actors and the director, laughing and having a grand time…and then he was magically Reverend James Mavor Morell – George Bernard Shaw’s uptight husband of Candida in the play of the same name – and not my daddy at all. And then the scene was over, or they stopped to discuss the moment during a work-through rehearsal, and he was Daddy again. It took my breath away, that transformation. Daddy first brought me into that world of art where artist uses self – literally – as the interpretive medium. Acting.

My daddy was the best audience member you could ever want to have. Ever. I loved sitting next to him in the theater as he experienced every moment of the play as if he was a part of the action himself. I thrilled when he watched my performances with the same intent – I could always feel him there. Daddy taught me how to be alive in the theater, even from a seat in the house.

I miss him. I miss him every day. I don’t imagine there will ever come a time when I don’t want to turn to him and ask him what he thinks so I can soak it in. But he is inside me. He helped shape and mold me as an artist. And for that, I am eternally grateful.

From Katherine:

Now that the dust is cleared and we are all moving on, I wanted to tell you what I was thinking Tuesday night during Mitt Romney’s Concession Speech: “Wow – he is like the most improved witness ever!” A comparison of the Mitt of the campaign and the Mitt of Tuesday night is like the difference between a witness before being prepared and a witness after.  Here are some great things he did:

He was Real. This is something that I work on with witnesses again and again and again. Remember how forced and not himself he was in so many speeches and debates? The campaigning Romney reminded me of so many witnesses who stop acting like themselves and start acting like other people during the stress of testifying. Tuesday night, the real Romney appeared. Warm, compassionate, a real and regular guy. That is always a goal for which to strive as a witness.

He was Connected. He not only connected with everyone in that room, he connected with the American people who were watching him. Getting a witness to understand the importance of connecting with the jurors is almost always a big task. Witnesses often think the connection is between themselves and their attorney or opposing counsel. Far from it. It is always with the jurors.

He was Gracious. The time for negative campaigning was clearly over. He didn’t treat his opponent like the enemy. The same is true for a witness on the stand. Don’t fight opposing counsel – let your lawyer and the jurors do that. That is their job, not yours.

He was Humble. Not humiliated – humble. There is a big difference. Getting a witness to be humble rather than defensive is a major task in many cases. Many people’s attitude toward the other side begins with the phrase, “How dare you –.” Instead, the attitude toward the jurors needs to be, “Thank you so much for being here.”

Whether he was your guy or not your guy, if you are an attorney and you put witnesses on the stand, you can learn a lot from what Mitt Romney did on Tuesday night during that speech. And so can your witnesses. I’m planning on using him as an example for a long time.

These days everyone, it seems, is looking to cut down on costs. Large corporations who used to hire big firms are now looking for “boutique” firms who can try their cases for less. Plaintiff’s firms, who used to live and die by the model “wait until the last minute and then spend, spend, spend” are allocating time and resources on a per case basis from the time they get involved in a lawsuit. Criminal Defense lawyers are finding that they have to put their Clients on the witness stand more than before…and how many criminal cases have unlimited funds? And the insurance companies who are involved at the heart of so many of our cases are cutting litigation corners right and left.

I recently wrote an article for Jury Expert that is intended to give attorneys some good advice on how to prepare as efficiently as possible. This doesn’t mean that you won’t ever have to pull out the checkbook and get a witness preparation specialist involved in your case. Just because times are hard doesn’t mean that some witnesses will simply be beyond your skills as an attorney to prepare. But with proper planning, preparation and taking advantage of cyber space you can keep your costs at a minimum.

To read the full article with useful tips and advice when preparing witnesses on a budget please visit our knowledge tank.

I had been waiting in the conference room for an hour, looking at a beautiful view of the mountains and hoping for the best. The attorney – who I had met only over the phone but came highly recommended by my good client, Charlie – had popped his head in after the receptionist seated me at 9 a.m., purring, “He’s here, but I just want to go over a few things with him first.”

I cooled my heels knowing the attorney was doing one of two things with the witness: Discussing something that he didn’t want me to know (good news for me – this is a guy who has a healthy respect for privilege) or he was giving the witness what I have come to call The Magic List lecture of do’s and don’ts for deposition. I call these lists magic because lawyers believe that by telling witnesses all these things in a lecture format, it is like sprinkling the fairy dust of knowledge on their heads. The witness will miraculously emerge with The Magic List fully understood, integrated, and ready for the battle ahead.

I have yet to meet a lawyer who does not have a Magic List for deposition. And trial. And arbitration. Magic List lectures sound something like this: “We are now getting ready for your deposition. A deposition is a….blah blah blah…don’t answer if you don’t understand the…blah blah blah…take your time before answering the…blah blah blah…for God’s sake don’t volunteer…blah blah blah…if you don’t know, if you don’t remember just…blah blah blah…one time I had a witness who didn’t listen to me – of course, he is dead now and his wife is in a mental hospital and his children are on welfare…blah blah blah…don’t worry, I’ll be right be- side you the whole time.”

If this attorney was giving The Magic List lecture, I was happy to be out of the room. It is really painful to watch a lawyer hammer a perfectly nice human being into a terrified lump who is bound to fail. Not that most people aren’t going to pick up something from a lecture, but no one really learns best this way – including attorneys. Attorneys were taught to lecture by law professors, mentors, and senior partners who lectured to them, and so they lecture.

To read more about how this witness was saved and useful tactics to use to prepare a witness for a deposition or trial, Visit