OPENINGS Q&A WITH JOSEPH WILSON

1. How do you let the human story become real inside of you?

I let the human story become real by truly getting to know the client, genuinely caring about them, and thinking of them as if they were a family member—my mom, my sister, my brother.

2. When talking about damages, how do you remind the jury why the harm occurred?

When discussing damages, you always want to tie the harm to the negligence. You'll remind the jury that it was the defendant's carelessness, their negligence, that caused these harms to be unnaturally thrust into my client's life. It caused this fracture in the spine or necessitated surgery. So, you're always connecting the negligence to the harm.

3. How do you create curiosity with the jury?

You create curiosity by not revealing everything during your opening statement. You don't tell them all the great nuggets of evidence you’re going to present at trial. You allude to it but don't specifically reveal everything. You hold a few things back to maintain curiosity and spontaneity during the trial, which can really elevate your case.

4. Is tone important in the opening?

Tone is very important. You have to establish credibility, and it starts with voir dire and then spills over into the opening statement. You don't want to advocate too much too early. You have to build up to that, building credibility along the way. When teaching the jury about something, such as a brain injury, I adopt a more professorial tone to establish credibility. As I progress through my opening, I may adopt a more advocate-like tone.

5. Importance of hitting on all of the senses when storytelling to create the scene

When setting the scene, the jury is hearing for the first time what actually happened to your client. I like to engage all of the senses—describing the sounds, the smells, the landmarks—so they feel like they’re there. Talking in the first person helps them feel like they are at the scene when this is happening to your client, rather than referring to it in the past tense as something that happened long ago. We want them to feel it, hear it, and sense it as if it's happening to them.