From Katherine:

I know, you were really hoping that instead of giving you new information about an attorney favorite for the Dog Days of Summer that I would write about the new Smurf movie. Actually, one of the guys in my playwrighting group tried to convince me that I should go because he claimed there is a new character called “Legal Smurf”. Thank God I’m not that blonde.

Okay. I love LEGALLY BLONDE. Love it! I find it amazing that when I ask attorneys what their favorite movie about the law is that they don’t all shout out that title in their top hits. I love the story of Elle Woods (played by the extraordinary Reese Witherspoon learning that her skills of being sharp, savvy, compassionate and discerning can be used to help others by becoming an attorney.

But why I want you to watch it this time around (other than to have a fabulously rollicking time) is that I often use this film as a homework assignment for witnesses. With many witnesses, answering “too quickly” is an issue. People get nervous, the stakes are high, and they tend to “speak first and think second”. After I help cure them of the habit, I recommend that they watch the film, paying close attention to the cross examination of Enrique (the brilliant Greg Serano) by Emmett (the wonderful Luke Wilson).

The following dialogue is delivered at breakneck speed:

Emmett: Did you take Mrs. Windham on a date?
Enrique Salvatore: Yes.
Emmett: Where?
Enrique Salvatore: A restaurant in concord, where no one could recognize us.
Emmett: How long have you been sleeping with Mrs. Windham?
Enrique Salvatore: Three months.
Emmett: And your boyfriend’s name is…
Enrique Salvatore: Chuck.
Emmett: Right.
[Everyone gasps/laughs]
Enrique Salvatore: Pardon me, pardon me. I thought you said friend; Chuck is just a friend.
Chuck: YOU BITCH.

I can’t tell you how often any speedy witness “gets it” from watching this scene. We all have a good laugh and the lesson is solidified thanks to Enrique. I am happy to report that in the stage play based on the movie, LEGALLY BLONDE THE MUSICAL, that scene gets a big laugh every night. Even though we all know it is coming, the audience still gets the biggest kick out of it! I think we all recognize that “speed kills” each and every time we experience it in this scene – whether on stage or screen.

TIP: Help your speedy witnesses by having them watch the cross examination scene from LEGALLY BLONDE.

From Katherine:

Ask attorneys what book and movie were their greatest influencers in choosing to become a lawyer and 9 out of 10 respond TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD. Now there is a fantastic documentary in limited release in theaters but available for sale on DVD on the author, book and film. The filmmaker is veteran Mary McDonagh Murphy and its title is HEY, BOO: HARPER LEE & TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD.

For every attorney who wanted to become Atticus, related to Scout, grew up in the shadow of Boo Radley, or wanted so badly to see that nothing bad ever happened to another Tom Robinson, this film acts as a “must take” journey. Murphy goes into great depth about the back story of Harper Lee and her writing of her great and only novel. She gives us further insight into all the characters, including her father who was the basis for Atticus. We hear from a host of folks, including her sister who still practices the law in her late 90s! There are “behind the scenes” tales of what went on during the filming told by Mary Badham who played Scout.

But for me, it is the commentary by “others” that offers attorneys the most valuable lessons. First, there is the commentary on the politics of the time (Andrew Young, Oprah Winfrey, and Tom Brokaw). The interplay between the book, the movie and the civil rights movement is so moving. It reminds everyone who has the privilege of working for justice how great an impact our cases can have.

Second, there is the commentary by the writers who are forever influenced and affected by the book. I kept thinking about how attorneys will talk about a great trial lawyer who was a mentor with stunning examples of what made him or her so good. Here, you are experiencing other writers talking about this master writer and her masterwork (a work that is influencing a 6th grader today who is going to become a lawyer just like you did!).

I can think of no greater master class in storytelling that I could send you to right here and right now. It is simply delicious. It will inevitably make you look at your own storytelling as a trial lawyer on a whole new level. Why? Because they are all talking about the storytelling skills of a work you think you know as well as you know your own heart. Just wait. You’ll learn even more.

TIP: Can you list the qualities that make you a good trial lawyer? Did you get them from trying to be like Atticus?

From Katherine:

Summer is in full swing – time to kick back and look at old favorites and what they can teach us! It seems like a big favorite for attorneys is MY COUSIN VINNY. Who doesn’t love Joe Pesci’s Vinny? Who doesn’t envision himself/herself kicking major ass big time in the endearing way that Vinny does in all those courtroom scenes at the end of the film?

Although I am crazy about the courtroom scenes, it is the journey of Vinny’s learning curve that always sucks me in. I think that is where the real lessons for attorneys lie. They include:

1. Know your case, dude.
2. Know the law, bro.
3. Dress like the lawyers do in the town in which you are trying the case, pal.
4. Don’t piss off the judge, especially if he once played Herman Munster.
5. Trust your trial team – particularly if she is smarter than you are.
6. Once points 1-5 are under your belt, you can fly.

How many lawyers love the feeling of point 6, but aren’t willing to do the work and take the journey that encompasses points 1-5? Watch Vinny. It may be your second time, it may be your millionth, but watch the first part and see if there aren’t some laughs of recognition this time.

TIP: You can’t soar like an eagle if you aren’t willing to take the journey to the top of the cliff.

From Katherine:

BEGINNERS is a must see film.  I know, I know, it is in limited release. It shouldn’t be – it should be in your local theater in my opinion.  BEGINNERS is a delicately woven tale of how we are ALWAYS “starting over” in the game of life.  But we start over bringing the past with us – a past that rarely lets us either live in the moment or leap into the next chapter of our lives with the willingness to embrace a blank slate.

The performances are brilliant.  Is there any day of the week with a “y” in it that you DON’T want to see Christopher Plummer’s extraordinary artistry? But the work of the film maker – writer and director Mike Mills – is truly masterful and not to be missed.

But what is in it for lawyers to go to BEGINNERS? Two elements of storytelling – emotional truth and passage of time – are skillfully demonstrated and readily useful in cases.

Let’s start with point of view.  The entire film is told from one point of view – that of the character Oliver, played by the wonderful Ewan McGregor. What is unique about the telling of Oliver’s story is that the clear emotional truth of each scene is raw and present.  As McGregor plays the scenes of his past and present, he is as emotionally alive as he was when they were happening to him.  For those of you who are lawyers who have studied or read about psychodrama, you would put that label on it.  For those of you, who like Alan and me, studied acting, you learned it as “emotional recall” or “sense memory.”  When I work with witnesses, I often take them back in time to get them to express the emotional truth of a piece of testimony they must give.  Sometimes it is the time when a child was misdiagnosed by a doctor.  Sometimes it is the time when a contract was forced on someone. Sometimes it is the moment when a partner realized the other partner had betrayed him. As you watch the film, be aware of how fully and completely the character is immersed in the moment he is recalling.  Haven’t you needed that from your witnesses – at least from time to time?

The second element is passage of time. This film is not told in chronological order.  So in order to orient us to the time period he wants us to find Oliver in, Mike Mills does two interesting things.  He says, for example, “This is 1955.” We then are given a still photo of them time.  Then “This is what cars looked like.” We are then given a still photo of a car of the time. We then are oriented with a few more repeatable elements.  Finally, he says “This is what it looked like when people were in love.” We then are given a series of still photos from the time of people in love.  This sequence: date, a few elements that are repeatable and which have changed, and then the eternal element that doesn’t (love) is HIGHLY EFFECTIVE.  It takes very little time and it is SO HELPFUL. Imagine you have a case that takes place over several years.  You need to orient the jurors visually to how things are different now from what they used to be. As I said in the blog post here for Fair Game (3/30/11) – this is your job.  I love the idea of the simple repetition of the same elements visually again and again as we watch them change. Mike Mills uses time and repetition again in a few places by simply changing one element in the visual in photo after photo after photo for a few seconds.  For example, in one time marker there is a plate cookies in the waiting room of the outpatient clinic where father Hal (Plummer) and son Oliver (McGregor) go for several weeks and months for Hal’s chemo appointments.  The plate, table, plant remain the same.  But the cookies change from shot to shot…and with that change we know that they have gone into that room again and again and again over days and days and days.  It is absolutely brilliant and you can adapt it to the visuals of your case.

TIPS:

1. Are your witnesses emotionally truthful and present?
2. Tell your jurors about the passage of time through your visuals.

From Alan:

Several posts ago, I talked about The Empathetic Response and how it might be beneficial for lawyers to understand connecting with jurors on that level.

Here, I want to share a spectacular talk by Kenneth Robinson on Divergent Thinking, Collaboration and Creativity. RSA, a wonderful company that creates animated shorts bringing ideas to life, has made this amazing clip.

Several points are important for attorneys to understand. First of all: The Delivery. When discussing graphics and supportive material to bring a case to life, most lawyers rely on language….charts, graphs, excerpts from transcripts and occasionally photos or videos. While watching this clip see how the non-verbal, purely visual story totally supports the verbal narrative unfolding during the clip. While this actual technique might be too expensive for most attorneys, the idea of it is what you should take away. How do you best create a non-verbal, elegant unfolding of your story.

Secondly, the message of the clip is so important to understand. Especially for folks in solo practice, or in firms that do not encourage and support true collaboration, learn from this how essential it is to find the synergy in collaboration. I know this might be an overused word, which has gone out of style, but the effect is very powerful. It is not necessary to do it all alone. In fact, it is often, almost always, to work with others. Something that our educational system and law school does not encourage.

Finally, learn the value of divergent thinking. This is sometimes termed, “outside the box” thinking. And it is often beaten out of us during our schooling.

This clip was inspirational to me and I hope you will find it so, as well.

TIP: Allow yourself to think of your case in new ways. Seek out collaborators who think and approach things differently from you. And finally, explore the possibilities of non-verbal visuals.

From Alan:

On June 11, we celebrated the birth of our first grandchild.  A baby girl. We have two sons…a married lawyer, who just had the baby girl, and a rock ‘n roller, about to be married in October. Family has always been a central part of our lives. Our parents all live near us and are in increasing need of our care…3 left and we feel blessed.

During the birth week, the cable channels were playing PARENTHOOD. Now, this film was released in 1989 and has always been a favorite and one that I will almost always stop and watch if I flip by the channel when it is on. But, now with the addition of a new generation in our lives, the film has taken on a new significance.

Bill Moyers, the wonderful journalist, says that the birth of a grandchild has to make you an optimist. You must be convinced that the world will survive and that things will be better in the future. I agree.

This sprawling, multi-generational, multi-plotted film is brilliant in so many ways. But, what lessons does it have for trial lawyers?

Well, I was struck by two things: point of view and theme.

There are many points of view in this story and many stories within the film. In film, switching point of view can be done in many ways – a jump cut, a black out, or simply beginning a new scene in a new place with different people. In live communication, it is a little trickier. You still have many tools at your disposal.

Pause, silence, move to a new physical spot in the room, a new tone of voice, a different pitch or volume. All of these can help the listener understand that you are now switching to a new topic or a new point of view. And as a trial lawyer, you must become a master STORYTELLER and that demands that you master all of the tools above….and more. A fully relaxed and modulated voice, a full range of pitch and a detailed understanding of vocal patterns and inflections. And most especially, when telling a complex story with many characters and more than one point of view it is imperative to clearly mark each change so the listener, judge and/or jury, can follow.

In PARENTHOOD, all the stories were connected by a common theme. This is another important lesson from this film for the trial lawyer. Locating and developing an overriding, overarching theme that connects all stories and all points of view into a unified whole.

Do yourself a favor and watch this film again and keep these two points in mind.

TIP: Are you clearly delineating and marking the changes in the story and the point of view? Find a unifying theme, an overriding theme, that connects all aspects of your story and all the stories of your case.

From Alan:

CAVE OF FORGOTTEN DREAMS is not a film in wide release. That means it is not easy to find. It will play in only a few cities on a limited number of screens. But, if you can find it, please do. It is exceptional.

Werner Herzog, the filmmaker and documentarian, has been afforded access to visit the caves of Chauvet in Southern France. Here are the oldest known paintings that humans created. As an old friend of mine once said, “It was ever thus.”

To see the detail and grace of these paintings is to know that throughout time, humans have had the same feelings, intuitions and dreams. These images are 35,000 years old. And they portray the basic human needs: hunting for food, seeking shelter and the fertility of women – immortality. The magnificent renderings of horses, elk, and horned antelopes are captured in mid-run it seems. The naturalistic representation of the animals is in contrast to the abstract images of human, especially of women. They are portrayed as vessels of fertility. A spiritual awe is almost palpable.

What is also fascinating is listening to the scientists and artists, working together, struggling to find THE STORY. Who were these people? What did they want? Why did they paint these images? Of course we can’t know definitively, but the struggle to understand, to make sense, THROUGH STORY, of what is in these caves is the essential human endeavor. We tell stories. We look for them, we seek them, we can’t understand our history, our present nor think about our future without story.

And this, of course, is what trial lawyers should learn from this beautiful film. Find the story and attach that story to the largest theme you can conceive. If you don’t, the viewer, the listener, will look for one on her own and supply one for you.

TIP:  Are you telling a story that has been told for 35,000 years? Does your story link to a universal, eternal theme?

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.

From Katherine:

Okay. I’ll admit it. I have been angry with Woody Allen for YEARS and you know why. Every time he makes another brilliant movie, I forgive him a little bit more – and this time I think I am completely through being mad. MIDNIGHT IN PARIS is a must see! Run, do not walk! The theme of the illusion that living in another place and time would solve all your problems certainly hits home for me. OF COURSE I WANT TO LIVE IN PARIS IN THE 1920S SURROUNDED BY ALL THE GREAT ARTISTS AND WRITERS WHO WERE THERE. Duh! And the performances are brilliant. But it is one performance, that of Owen Wilson, that I think attorneys will find most useful in practicing the law. He plays “The Woody Allen Character.”

Ah, the evolution of the Woody Allen Character. I fell in love with Woody Allen when I saw Bananas nine times. Brilliant, funny – an amazing writer and actor – I was in awe. His quirky smart comedy combined with his wonderful delivery never failed to amaze me. All nine times. Over the years his films have bowled me over as he has grown and changed as an artist. But those comedies – there is really nothing like them. Also, over the years, as he has aged he has taken to having another actor play “The Woody Allen Character” in his movies. In MIDNIGHT IN PARIS, it is Owen Wilson.

When I first started working with attorneys, I saw that young lawyers were all imitating their mentors. Playing their version of their own personal and deeply influential “The Woody Allen Character.” Sometimes it is funny and endearing. Kind of like when our kids were teenagers and I had to dress them up to go to traffic court in one of Alan’s sport coats and ties so that they could hang onto their drivers’ licenses. There is something really moving about a young attorney putting on the personality of his or her mentor. It never quite fits and you have to roll up the cuffs. Then as I got older and started looking at all attorneys, regardless of age, I saw that many have either a gigantic or a small bit of that imitation still at the heart of their trial personality. Sometimes it serves them well – almost like a pocket watch passed down from grandfather to grandson. Just a bit of an accessory. An homage. I am thinking now about an attorney who takes a small pause, looks at the jurors and smiles before she gives a really big point in her closings. I remember her mentor and she wears that gold watch with ease and pride. Really well integrated and coordinated.

But then I see attorneys who have really outgrown that old mentor – or at least their youthful version of that old mentor that is now completely “at odds” with their adult person. I am thinking now of an attorney who gives a big, bold and completely false gesture straight out of the Clarence Darrow playbook when wanting the jurors to know that he is disgusted with what opposing counsel said in closing. As if Clarence Darrow would have the same playbook in the 21st Century that he did in the 20th!

Do you have a mentor? Now…look at how Owen Wilson plays “The Woody Allen Role” in MIDNIGHT IN PARIS. You absolutely know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the base and root of that character is Woody Allen. But – the heart and soul is Owen Wilson. Every expression of delight, heartache, longing, and surprise is his – but we sure do know that Woody Allen is an integral part of what he is doing as an actor.

A note about my relationship with Woody – or as I sometimes call it “when he betrayed us all.” You know when I fell out of love with him. I know that it is best to “trust the art and not the artist” but I really let his behavior get in my way. As my friend, Terry said, “He was her father. If he ever once said, ‘Listen to your mother!’ he was her father!” At any rate, I think I’ve fully forgiven him now. Or maybe I just want to see Paris in the 1920s nine times…

TIP: Is your mentor showing up in your delivery? And is it a good thing?

Subscribe to Legal Stage by Email

From Katherine:

If you are an attorney, you should go see BRIDESMAIDS just because you are working MUCH TOO HARD and you need to laugh until you cry. Did you love The Forty Year Old Virgin as much as I did? Then you know that anything that Judd Apatow produces might make you laugh and tug at your heartstrings at the same time. Paul Feig has directed some of my favorite television shows (The Office, Nurse Jackie, Mad Men, 30 Rock). If you like them, too, you will be as excited as I was to see this talented guy make the leap to the big screen.

BUT – ultimately it isn’t the guys who make this film great. It is the women. The Women. THE WOMEN. The amazing actress/writer/producer Kristen Wiig is stunning in all three of her capacities. Actresses Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Ellie Kemper, Melissa McCarthy, and the late Jill Clayburgh make this film unforgettably brilliant. I don’t think I have ever seen anything from a woman’s point of view that was this funny. I don’t think anyone else has, either. Ever. It is relentlessly female. Relentlessly funny and female.

In the audience with me when I saw the film over the weekend were Alan and our own soon-to-be-bride of 2011, Ariana, and her fiancée, our son, Nathan. The large audience we saw it with was filled with women and men – some seeing the show with “dates”, some as a guys’ night out, some as a gals’ night out. The top of the film was a bit uncomfortable as the men and women in the audience all changed their points of view from what was “normal” to what was “different”. In a “normal” hysterically funny comedy, the point of view is decidedly male. To start a film with a woman having a really hysterically funny bad time in bed with an insensitive man is “different”. First the men I was with and a few others started to laugh with the women in the audience…then more…and more…and then by the time the scene was over the whole audience was laughing in big belly laughing waves together. Brilliant!

What can lawyers learn from the experience of seeing BRIDESMAIDS on the big screen? Women are different from men. I find working on a case with a woman or women in charge very different from working with men. Men are often very top down. Whoever is lead counsel in a case in which I am the only female on the trial team can choose to stay on the top of a pyramid and dictate from that position. Roles are assigned and to stray from the role one is assigned is simply never done. I call this “Playing Law With The Boys”. On the other hand…women are often team players. When lead counsel in the case is a woman, all of us sit around a table and she will throw a problem out and everyone brainstorms it. At the end of the day, she will decide what course to take with the problem – but she wants everyone’s opinion, ideas, and advice. I call this phenomenon “Playing Law Like A Girl”. I say “Like A Girl” because there are male attorneys who play this way, too. I call them “girl-y men”. I can give no higher praise than to call a male attorney with whom I work a “girl-y man”.

Although they do show up occasionally in my own generation, the Baby Boomers (born between 1946 and 1964), I find that “girl-y men” are showing up more and more in Generation X (born between 1965 and 1976 or clear up to 1980, depending on which scientist you follow). You will note that the core folks who made BRIDESMAIDS are all GenXers: Wiig, Apatow, and Feig. They describe making the film as a large collaboration – not just because there is a strong tradition of improv in the cast. Every time you laugh until you cry when you see this film, know that it came from collaboration at every level instead of top down. Think about your own style of trying cases. Do you sit at the top of the pyramid at all times? Or are you more of a collaborator?

TIP: Are you already “Playing Law Like A Girl”? If not, maybe it is time you did.

Subscribe to Legal Stage by Email