Letters.

Trial Themes

This letter is in response to and will serve as a commentary to the "Trial Themes and Analysis" article written by Melissa Pigott in the Practice Management and Development Section's State of the Art News, which was included in the August 15 News.

The last sentence in Dr. Pigott's article, stating that "trial themes enhance the attorney's ability to persuade the jury by providing quick, understandable, and memorable ways for jurors to conceptualize the complexities of the case" is aptly phrased. As all trial attorneys know (or should know), a jury frequently reaches its decision as early as voir dire, and may be as a result of nonlegal factors, such as the attorney's appearance or his or her degree of eloquence. However, on other occasions, especially when dealing with a complex legal issue, the jury may well be more influenced by the "theme" of the case. The attorney who is best able to articulate this theme is generally the one who will prevail.

I have been involved in numerous cases in which we developed a cohesive, uniting theme. One such theme was "A Truck Driver's Nightmare" (an automobile accident in which a small car pulled out unexpectedly in front of a semi-tractor trailer). Another theme successfully used was "The Doctor's Dilemma" (a case where, though the physician's clinical judgment precluded him from performing radical surgery, the patient died). "Home Alone" (children left unattended were badly burned in a house fire while the parents were out partying), and "What Difference Did it Make?" (where an EKG was read on a patient who was already dead) were also themes we developed. In each instance, the theme was used forcefully and creatively throughout both the discovery process and trial, creating a tightly woven scenario on which the jury could focus.

Yes, indeed, a theme is a powerful tool.

Catherine B. Parks

Miami

Animal Rights

I have read with some interest the exchange of letters in the News regarding the possibility and value of the formation of an Animal Rights Section of The Florida Bar.

Those of us who take animal rights seriously must, I suppose, become used to those who trivialize the enormity of the problem. I imagine similar jocularity was popular among the uninformed, the ignorant, and the prejudiced speciests who for centuries and generations subjugated, exploited, and murdered blacks, slaves, and women. Animals have a unique problem in that they cannot communicate with us in terms we consider...