Personal Injury Law

Damages by David Ball, Part 2

Yesterday, I wrote that we would be buying David Ball's 3rd edition of "Damages." Little did I know we had already ordered the book. I am going to write about things in this book that grab me, in no particular order at this point.

Ball writes: "Among the hollowest of advocacy moments can be when counsel says, in opening, that his client has lost one of her great pleasures - say, gardening.

This got my attention quick. I don't think I have done this. I know I have. Right down to the example: gardening.

Ball's point is that just throwing out boiler plate suffering like loss of "gardening" without human context, can come off as hypocritical and will "turn even the friendliest of jurors into enemies." You have to find out exactly what they are talking about when they say they "miss gardening" and you have to make sure you understand - really understand - what the client was doing and why the loss of it is a real absence in their lives.

Full post as published by Maryland Injury Lawyer Blog on March 17, 2011 (boomark / email).