Story Matters. Don't Lose The Narrative In The Details.

The story is what a jury or factfinder will care about -- not the tiny details that litigators sometimes obsess over.

As litigators, we spend much of our time carefully crafting and presenting our clients’ stories. A huge part of our job is to relay—whether in writing or orally— these stories to our adversaries, to the court, and to the eventual finders of fact as clearly and efficiently as possible. But after years of motion practice and discovery where the details are everything, it can be extremely difficult to take a step back and see the proverbial forest.

At the beginning of a case, focusing on the big picture story is easy. Our client’s own perspective on what happened is often all of the information we have. Our first tasks are to confirm the facts, determine how they may be used to reach our client’s goals, and structure them into a story that is easy to understand and convey. The narrative is the heart of this so that, at the start, it is natural to focus on the progression of events leading up to a given lawsuit.

However, as we spend more time speaking with our clients, researching the issues, and uncovering the evidence, this becomes more difficult, and the details often take on lives of their own.

I was reminded of this over the past month while my colleagues and I prepared for two trials in nearly decade-old disputes. Our firm represents the plaintiff in those actions, and, since the filing of the complaint, the various parties have litigated dozens of motions and appeals, exchanged and reviewed many thousands of pages of documents, and essentially argued every issue imaginable (and then some).

When it came time to sit down and outline my opening statement for one of the cases, I found myself returning to the minutia that had formed the basis of our motion practice for years. After I reviewed what I first wrote down, I realized that I had spent far too much time unfolding each tiny detail, and had completely lost sight of what made our client’s case relatable and convincing to the listener.

Yes, some of the individual points may have been interesting from a legal standpoint (well, at least to me and my colleagues who had spent who knows how many hours analyzing them), but, without the overarching story to tie them together, those details meant little. It wasn’t until I stepped back, and, with the help of some of my colleagues, returned my focus to what ultimately was a simple story, that the power of my client’s claims returned. With practice, I was able to set aside what had been my focus for years, and create a concise narrative that would be easily explained to the jury we would soon be before.

When you spend months, if not years, dissecting the meaning of a single document, email, or even word, the actual story of the case can feel secondary. But to lose sight of that story is an error. Always keep the big-picture story in mind. Not only will it keep you sane as you wade through the turns of a complex litigation, but the story is what a jury or fact finder will ultimately care about and what you will need to win for your client.

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Jillian L McNeilJillian L. McNeil was an attorney at Balestriere Fariello, a trial and investigations law firm which represents clients in all aspects of complex commercial litigation and arbitration from pre-filing investigations to trial and appeals. You can reach firm partner John Balestriere at john.g.balestriere@balestrierefariello.com.

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