OTLA Trial Lawyer Fall 2020

40 Trial Lawyer • Fall 2020 need to help win the case. I need to find the ones that appear to be in some form of true chronic pain. I shouldn’t have my head buried in those questionnaires. I know what the questions are. And really you know what the answers are. I don’t need to see their answers. You will always have some educators, retired or other- wise, so plan on a group of questions you like for them. You will always have some people with prior jury experience so plan for that. Same with close relationships with law enforcement. What I am saying is you don’t need to rely at all on those questionnaires. Come with your game plan for the ideal jurors and don’t use the questions and answers on the question- naires for anything more than getting a juror’s name. 10. Talk big numbers Get that discussion going early. Hit Ten Tips Continued from p 39 this head-on. It is a great catalyst for discussion. It gets people to commit to being fair and not deciding the case too early. Plus, you need to show your con- fidence in your numbers. There is no better time to do that than during voir dire . I remember a trial where I repre- sented a motorcyclist who broke his clavicle when he had to lay down his bike at an intersection where the defendant pulled out right in front of him. The first words I uttered in voir dire , “I am asking for $300,000 in pain and suffering.” I only saw two people flinch. The jury gave me a verdict of 6 figures when the defense argued for zero. To this day, I believe my confidence in what I was asking helped carry us across the finish line. Final words To conclude, I believe voir dire is one of the best parts of a case because you actually get to talk with jurors. Voir dire is an experience that enriches my life and my practice of law. I am not ashamed to be a trial lawyer so I use voir dire as an opportunity to teach members of my community why I do what I do. I hope every juror who has been part of my tri- als will be a better future juror and a more sympathetic citizen. I don’t know what the defense bar says about me now, but I know that initial compliment I received helped propel me forward in my career. I felt empowered to be a better advocate for my clients. I can’t think of a better way to do this than by going to trial more often, fine tuning my skills from voir dire to closing argument and never being satisfied with my last verdict. Good luck to you all. I look forward to seeing you, my brothers and sisters, in the trenches. Damian Idiart handles all types of per- sonal injury cases throughout Oregon and California. Idiart contributes to the OTLA Guardians at the Stalwart level. The Idiart Law Group can be reached at PO Box 3700, Central Point, OR 97502. You can contact Idiart at [email protected] or 541-772-6969.