The National Law Journal has launched a profile series on plaintiffs bar leaders. In the latest edition, Mark Lanier discusses his passion for law—both in court as well as religious law in his second career as a preacher. He also opens up about trial strategy and the secret of how to persuade a jury.
An excerpt is below but read the full article here.
NLJ: How do you persuade juries—what’s your secret?
ML: That’s like asking what’s the secret to world peace! It is so intricate, it takes me 24 hours at my trial academy to tell people how to persuade jurors. If I were to give some general rules: Rule #1: Be yourself. Jurors crave authenticity, they can smell it when they find it and they smell it when it’s fake.
Rule #2: Understand the dynamic of what persuasion is. Persuasion is taking someone who doesn’t necessarily want to be there and trying to realign their brain in ways that they align with yours.
Ethical persuasion is different. It is not rooted in name-calling, it’s not rooted in extremism, it’s not rooted in bandwagon effect, it’s not rooted in any type of propaganda. It is rooted in educating someone and motivating them to do what’s right. You have got to understand how the mind works.
Post courtesy of The National Law Journal.
