Scott Frost shares his insights from our newsletter:
The judge says, “Court is adjourned.”
For everyone else, that means the day is over.
For a trial lawyer, not so much. Especially when the trial could last another three weeks.
There are witnesses to prepare.
Arguments to rethink.
Exhibits to review.
And usually at least one thing from that afternoon I want another crack at tomorrow.
But before my team does any of that, we head back to what we call our war room and do something I learned in the military.
It’s called a hot wash.
In the military, you don’t wait a week to unpack everything that happened on a mission.
You don’t even wait until tomorrow.
While everyone still remembers what they saw, what surprised them, and what absolutely did not go according to plan, you get everyone in a room and talk about it.
So that’s what we do after every day of trial.
For 15 or 20 minutes, we discuss:
What happened?
What did we see?
What can we improve?
What did the jurors think?
And I want to hear from everyone.
The guy running the video has been in that courtroom as much as I have. He may have been watching the jury while I was focused on questioning a witness.
Someone else on my staff may have noticed a reaction I missed entirely.
I want to know as much as I can, including others’ perspectives, before we walk back into court the next morning.
Because you can prepare for trial for months.
You can know the evidence backward and forward.
But when 12 actual human beings walk into the jury box, you have to pay attention to what’s actually happening, not what you thought would happen.
That’s why we compare notes.
We even score different parts of the day, because “that went pretty well” doesn’t give us much to work with.
A seven? Great. How do we make it an eight tomorrow?
A two? God forbid. Why did we score that way? How can we keep that from happening tomorrow?
Then we get back to work.
Because tomorrow morning, those jurors will walk back into the courtroom.
And we need to be better than we were when they left.
— Scott Frost
(866) FROST-WINS
P.S. If you or someone you know has questions about a serious injury, lung cancer, or possible asbestos exposure, feel free to reach out. We’re always happy to talk.
From Exposure to Closure ®
