March 2010

Dr. Noelle Nelson's Home Page Trial Consulting

It doesn’t matter which side you represent, you must tell a story. For plaintiff, this is obvious: there’s a wrong to be righted, and it always has a story. For defense, this is equally true, though not always acknowledged.

You see, it’s not about “the other side of the story,” for that places the control back in plaintiff’s hands. Plaintiff still defines the terms of the game, the boundaries of play. It’s about “the other story” where defense presents an entirely different scenario for jurors to experience. Now the playing field is level. Jurors can choose to be convinced by one story or the other.

The truism “the best defense is a good offense” holds.  Instead of defending, defense now speaks to plaintiff’s claims by showing how they fit as legitimate, “good” pieces within defense’s “story.”  So, for example, with a med mal case, defense could include as part of its story, how Dr’s procedure/process is highly regarded - the best possible and safest course given the patient’s condition, that Dr trusts, relies on, and has seen excellent results from the procedure/process, what diagnostics were used to validate Dr’s choice, Dr’s well-thought out decision-making process (“decision tree”), as well as how plaintiff neglected Dr’s instructions, and of course, the alternate causes for plaintiff’s current condition.

As laborious as the above may seem, giving the jurors a rich and many-pronged defense story, as opposed to simply defending against specific claims, will greatly increase your chances of – a winning case.

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Winning Words:

“Be sincere; be brief; be seated.”

Franklin Delano Roosevelt

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Giving a deposition or testifying at a trial can be a painful and costly experience if the client is not well prepared. Use Dr. Noelle Nelson’s “101 Winning Tips: How to Give a Good Deposition and Testify Well in Court” to help your clients successfully prepare for their turn on the stand or in deposition. Click here for more information

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A WINNING CASE Dr. Noelle Nelson recently consulted on:

*Congratulations to Gerard T. Carmody and David H. Luce, of Carmody MacDonald  P.C. (St. Louis, MO) for their successful Jury Verdictrepresenting Tamko, a building supply company, versusa former employee, an independent roofing contractor and its owner, all of whom had profited from a kick-back scheme which took advantage of the company's generous product warranty. In addition to the actual damages of $242,565.65, the jurors awarded $275,000 in punitives against the individuals, which considering public feelings about corporations these days, was particularly gratifying.

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Dr. Nelson selected as one of  "100 Legal Consultants You Need to Know"
by lawdragon.com

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