Earning Jurors’ Trust: Empathetic Attorneys

Particularly in cases involving products that jurors or their loved ones might use (e.g., pharmaceutical or automotive products), it helps to have attorneys who are able to connect with jurors at an emotional, not just a cognitive, level. In today’s distrusting climate, defense attorneys need to be able to show real compassion for a plaintiff’s injuries, even if they are asserting that the manufacturer defendant bears no responsibility for these injuries. As with company witnesses, defense attorneys do not have to be particularly warm or charming, but they do need to be more than just evidence narrators; they need the ability to speak directly to jurors’ fears and distrust and to jurors’ need to be reassured about product safety.

What concerns have jurors had at your trials and how did you try to speak to those concerns?