BACK FROM TRIAL PURGATORY

I've spent the last 6 weeks or so preparing for and ultimately losing a premises liability case. Getting a not guilty on the case was the bad news. The good news? First time in 7 years plus that I really got behind a case and came up empty. So I guess if I have to take it on the chin every seven years or so, I can live with it.

Premises cases are never easy. The current Illinois Instruction is not particularly plaintiff-friendly. Comparative negligence is always an issue and, I've concluded that juries simply don't like "slip and fall" cases very much. But I did learn some things at trial which I will share with the class.

First, if a juror says that her husband was seriously hurt a couple of years ago in an accident, sued, and didn't do well, bounce her. That juror is not your friend. No matter what, her husband was hurt far more seriously - your case pales by comparison.

Second - explain to your client how cross examination works repeatedly. I thought I had explained how the process worked pretty well, but apparently not. My client, a lovely woman, kept looking at me during cross. After a while, the jury was probably wondering if I was sending some sort of secret messages. My client explained later that she thought I could get up DURING defense counsel's, interrupt, and ask rehabilitating questions.

Next, go over every single line in your client's depo and pick at it for inconsistencies. That is precisely what defense counsel did during cross. He simply stood there and poked and prodded over and over. How often had she been there? Where was she looking? What did she see? What did she feel when she touched the step? On and on it went. Much of it was inconsequential, but he did bumble into some testimony that yielded damaging admissions. And in a premises case, you don't have much room for error.

Well, that's enough for now. Reliving an NG just isn't much fun.