2 Trial Lawyer • Spring 2022 By Lara Johnson OTLA Guardian Brandon Moore, an attorney in our office, and I were recently conducting a virtual focus group for an upcoming trial. In listening to the deliberation, we heard one person express their “I just can’t get over it” concern. They said, essentially, “If this person was so badly The trials of a pandemic hurt, why are we considering her case only now, after so much time has passed?” Their valuation of our client’s injuries was relatively low. People assume serious matters are handled seriously, and urgent matters are handled urgently. If not, maybe the matter is not important and does not deserve serious consideration. Here is one more challenge created by COVID and the corresponding delays in scheduling trials. Focus groups are often a prelude to trials, an opportunity to identify problems and strategize about how to overcome them. After hearing our focus group member’s comments, we may discuss in voir dire the impact COVID has had on the courts. We don’t know whether that explanation will immunize our client against any prejudice surrounding the delay between her injury and her trial. That is unclear. Focus groups can also give deeper insights into larger issues, outside the specifics of the unique case. Having trials set promptly, with a date certain not too distant from the date of filing, is important to our clients. A prompt trial reflects well on our judicial system. It tells the jury that we value justice, that this case matters. Time is of the essence Delays in trials interfere with the court’s truth-seeking role. Memories fade. Witnesses and parties get ill or die, or move away. Postponements mean additional expert fees as prep sessions are repeated and late cancellation fees are incurred. Delays in trials also prevent the delivery of justice. British Prime Minister William E. Gladstone’s 1868 maxim is “justice delayed is justice denied.” The concept is even older. William Penn, in President’s Message Lara Johnson
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