Law Students

Swimming in Small Ponds: Cultural Considerations

By AndreaKWelker

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I spent Saturday evening with a bag of popcorn and a movie: the Royal Shakespeare Company?s 2009 production of Hamlet starring David Tennant and Patrick Stewart.  I highly recommend it, it?s simply phenomenal.  Seeing it though, I couldn?t help but think about a trial I watched a few months ago.  It was a medical malpractice case, and the Plaintiff?s attorney discussed Hamlet during the closing argument.  Now, that would have earned bonus points with me had I been on the jury, because I am a total nerd.  However, by the confused looks from the jury, I?d say they weren?t big Shakespeare fans.  (Nor were they fans of the Plaintiff?s case, since they found for the Defendant with very little deliberation.)  The closing was eloquent and well-delivered, but it just did not speak to the jury.  That certainly didn?t lose the case in itself, but the point here is to understand your audience.  Nothing about the closing spoke to the individuals on the jury.  If you don?t understand the local culture, you will most definitely not understand the individual sitting on your jury, and what will persuade him or her to find for your client.  Much to my chagrin, the local culture doesn?t place much value on understanding the themes of Shakespearean tragedy.  That doesn?t necessarily make the members of our community any less complex, sophisticated or even educated, but it did make the closing argument miss the mark. 

In trial work, knowing the jury pool is essential, particularly the common experiences, values and beliefs within a community.  Culture plays a crucial role in successful trial work, and attorneys from outside of the community often make the mistake of either talking over or talking down to a jury, without consideration to the perspectives of the individual jurors.  The goal is to connect with the jury, and that is extremely difficult to do if you don?t understand them and, therefore, don?t know what will appeal to them.  The same concept applies not just with trial advocacy but also in working with others in many facets of small town legal practice.  What appeals to your client?  What appeals to the opposition?

Full post as published by Ms. JD on May 17, 2010 (boomark / email).