OTLA Trial Lawyer Fall 2020

16 Trial Lawyer • Fall 2020 By Steve Hill OTLA Guardian I moved to Pendleton to start my legal career 26 years ago. I arrived an out- sider. Single. No family west of the Mis- sissippi River. I was born in Chicago, grew up in Minneapolis, spent nearly three years teaching in Milan, Italy and attended law school in Cleveland before moving to this community of 17,000 people. I had to learn how to pronounce our state’s name. I had never been to a rodeo. I learned to love Eastern Oregon and the life I live here, but the process of “fitting in” was full of personal and pro- fessional adjustments. Oregon has 36 counties and 27 judi- cial districts. While most OTLA mem- bers are in Portland, Eugene or Salem, the vast majority of Oregon’s county courthouses are in small towns. At some Steve Hill JURY SELECTION IN A BIG STATE FULLOF SMALLTOWNS point in your career, you will take your show on the road to an unfamiliar court- house. Just know that wherever you go, there is an OTLA member who can be a resource for you. What follows are sug- gestions for starting your small town trial on the right foot and increasing the likelihood that the jury’s first impression of you is positive. “You’re not from here, are you?” The jurors will be told or will figure out quickly that you are not from their community. Accept this fact. You have no choice. Do not pretend to be someone you are not. Being the out-of-town at- torney can work to your advantage if the “local” attorney appears unprepared, disorganized, frumpy or for some other reason less likeable. Be confident and try to score early points as the more compe- tent attorney. I have seen small town judges show early respect for urban lawyers at trial. Jurors notice this. It may have something to do with a judge’s de- sire to welcome the out-of-town attorney and defuse any appearance that the local attorney has a home-field advantage. Whatever the case, do not squander the early respect. I have seen urban attorneys face plant as they try to fit in with personal anec- dotes and stories during jury selection. Do not talk about how you grew up on a farm, ranch or around pigs and cattle. Do not talk about how grandpa was a cowboy or about how you have enjoyed vacationing “out here in God’s country.” If you have some small town in your DNA or upbringing, let your personal- ity and demeanor reveal that to the jury. Listen. Do not talk fast. Allow for some silence. Respect the intelligence of the jurors and keep your tasks short and to the point. Be the more polite and courte- ous lawyer. Tell good stories that stick to the facts and theme of the case. Avoid words most people do not understand, especially Latin words you picked up in law school. Do not underestimate An attorney friend from Baker County recently made the point without mincing his words: “Don’t assume rural, small town jurors are a bunch of unso- phisticated hicks.” This is excellent ad- vice. More often than not, I have found jurors to be “top-down” thinkers.Though their politics may be different than yours, do not underestimate a small town jury’s ability to be fair. Rural jurors understand the big issues in the cases they hear and they know what is at stake. They take their constitutional responsibility seri- ously. I was asked to serve on a grand jury during my early years in Pendleton. I assumed I would be an outlier on this jury fighting for the little guy as the majority deferred to the prosecutor and simply rubber stamped the criminal jury selection in Small Town Oregon Wallowa County Courthouse