The Personal Injury Associate-MIST Trial-Direct Examination

John Henry teaches before we bring a case we must “Discover the Story” of our client and how she is impacted from the trauma. Only after doing this can we internalize our client’s situation as if we are in her skin. Direct examination  flows naturally as we and our lay witness or client have a conversation with the jury.

Before the examination I prepare an outline and cover it with my witness. When the testimony begins we talk together with the jury. I only use the outline to make sure I have covered the points we need to discuss. For my outline I use Paul Luvera’s Blog-Plaintiff Lawyer Trial Tips. Paul has outlines and input for all phases of trial  and direct examination is no exception. Below is my outline for direct of lay witness and direct of client.

Direct of Lay Witness (Client’s Daughter). Name, address. “Why did I ask you to testify.” “Tell the jury your educational background.” “Tell the jury about you family.” “Discuss you employment background.” “Describe [mother’s involvement] as you are growing up.” “Discuss frequency of contact with your mother.” “What types of things do you and your mother do together.” “Discuss your mother’s physical ability before collision of… .” “Discuss any physical limitations your mother had before collision of… .” “When did you learn of collision.” “Discuss your observations of differences in your mother following collision.” “What areas of your mother’s body have you observed are different since collision.” “What activity changes have you observed in your mother since collision.” “How does your mother deal with [inability to do work/activity she did before collision].” “Tell the jury what type of women your mother is as far as [being a complainer], [what is important in life], [overcoming adversity.”]

Direct of Client. Here is the link to Paul Luvera’s  Direct Exam of Own Client which I used in my MIST case.  On direct of client it is important to get client back in time to recount key events. Here we draw on our intimate bound with our client so she can discuss facts in the first person present tense if this comes natural (and it should if we have spent the time necessary to get into our client’s skin). We  get to the level where client can show the jury what occurred either on the witness stand or in the well if this makes sense in the case. We tell our client’s story with our client and know instinctively when to end on powerful testimony.

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