An Underrated Trial Strategy

𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘀𝗲𝗹 𝘁𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗮𝘁 𝟵𝗮𝗺

But I wasn't called to the stand until 3pm 🙄

It was one lonely wait out there


In 2023, I testified at trial on the West Coast

I flew in the night before

I prepped with retaining counsel

I reviewed my notes and literature once more

𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙄 𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙡𝙚𝙥𝙩 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙖 𝙗𝙖𝙗𝙮


The following morning, I awoke bright and early

I stretched and worked out

I showered and ate breakfast

I dressed and Ubered to the courthouse

𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙄 𝙨𝙖𝙩 𝙙𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙤𝙪𝙩𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙤𝙢 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙖𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙙


And waited

And waited some more

And waited for a very long time


Told to arrive: 𝟵 𝙖𝙢

Called to the stand: 𝟯 𝙥𝙢

Flight back home scheduled: 𝟳 𝙥𝙢

𝙔𝙚𝙨, 𝙄 𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙢𝙮 𝙛𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩


Between 9 am and 3 pm the court ran as usual

• Technical difficulties
• Arguments over formats
• Re-re-re cross-examinations

𝘽𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡 𝙠𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙗𝙞𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙧𝙮 𝙗𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙠𝙨 𝙗𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙅𝙪𝙙𝙜𝙚


✅Retaining counsel was ready for me at 11:30 am

❌The Judge ordered a 30 min break


✅Retaining counsel was ready for me at noon

❌The Judge elected to take lunch


✅Retaining counsel was ready for me at 1:30 pm

❌The Judge had to break for some reason


By the time I got on the stand

I had been "iced" 🥶 for 6 hours

But I testified to the medicine in question

And was released from the stand 3 hours later

𝙒𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙖 𝟯𝟬-𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙪𝙩𝙚 𝙗𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙠 𝙢𝙞𝙙-𝙩𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙨𝙚❗


𝙃𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙤 𝙧𝙚𝙙-𝙚𝙮𝙚 𝙛𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙩𝙤 𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙣



𝘿𝙤𝙚𝙨 𝙞𝙩 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙞𝙩 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙤𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙨𝙚𝙡 𝙨𝙘𝙧𝙞𝙥𝙩𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙨𝙚 𝙙𝙚𝙡𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙡𝙚 𝙖 𝙩𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙛𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙩?