Q: What’s something you wish more defense attorneys knew?

Three things: Know your audience. The more you can learn about your jurors, the more you can tailor your arguments to their life experiences and attitudes – they will ultimately interpret your case through this lens.

Be yourself. Jurors are more likely to believe your message is genuine when you are being genuine.

Provide a narrative framework for jurors to interpret the evidence. The framework makes the evidence easier to remember and interpret and can often give jurors a reason to be on your side. You need to turn your jurors into advocates for your side in the jury room.