Judges, juries, and rule one of persuasion. Last Monday, in Grand Rapids for a civil trial, we picked a jury of 8 people we had just met. On Saturday, in Lansing for a State Bar meeting, I learned some family division judges have concerns about conducting settlement conferences in their own cases. Whether judge or jury, first impressions do matter.
In a jury trial, your first contact with the decision maker is voir dire. That is the time to weave your trial theme into questions about people’s personal and professional lives. You are learning and educating at the same time. Learning about the potential juror. And educating that person about your case. But that’s not all. You are also educating the potential juror about youself–whether you can be believed, or whether you have a motive to deceive.
So when’s your first contact with the decision maker in a bench trial? That could have been years ago. Even in your first case with a particular judge, the morning of trial is far too late. There are motions, status conferences, settlement conferences–plenty of opportunities to demonstrate that you know the most about the case and that you will not deceive.
Whether by six months or 20 years, your reputation will precede you. Protect it. In the battle of trial stories, the decision maker always looks first to the stroyteller.