The Trial: Linda and Steven Hatfield v. Ford Motor Co.

The Attorney: James Butler

A strong opening statement not only convincingly lays out your claims, it highlights weaknesses in your opponent's case. However, doing both without confusing your jury can be difficult, particularly in product liability cases where claims rely on complicated theories. James Butler, in Hatfield v. Ford Motor Co., masterfully contrasts his claims in the roof crush suit with the various theories he expects Ford to raise, bolstering his own case in the process.

As we highlighted last week, ensuring a jury understands a suit’s narrative is one of the key goals of a trial’s opening statement and is a critical component to building a winning case. However, when the events and relationships underlying a suit are particularly complex, as is often the case with lawsuits against insurers, breaking down the narrative into a clear, cogent storyline can be difficult. In openings of Meyer v. Health Plan of Nevada, Robert Eglet, representing plaintiffs in a suit against their HMO, combines a descriptive timeline and eye-popping details in illustrate his claim that the HMO was responsible for the insureds contracting hepatitis C.

If you're a plaintiff's attorney in a personal injury case, it's critical that your jury understands the circumstances of the accident at the heart of the case from your point of view. Visual aids such as photographs and computer simulations can help highlight the events that caused the accident. But, as Marc Howard showed in his opening statement of McCray v. Ming Xuan Inc, sometimes the most effective way to explain an accident is to reenact it yourself.

Reading a deposition into evidence is often seen as the last, worst resort for a trial attorney. It means the witness isn’t available for the trial and a videotaped deposition isn’t possible. Attorneys often see the lack of the genuine witness as a weakness, and deliver a written deposition into evidence with all of the style of reading the side of a cereal box. However, when you put your unique control over the deposition’s presentation to work, you’ll keep your jury's attention focused on testimony that may make the difference in your case. To take advantage of the written deposition, and keep your jurors' interest, you must treat your deposition like the script of a courtroom play, using these four keys: