Persuasive Opening Statements
Atlanta partner Ira Genberg’s article “ Persuasive Opening Statements” was published in the November edition of Litigation Commentary & Review, a publication of the Litigation Counsel of America. It sets forth a lawyer’s most effective weapons and tactics when delivering a trial’s opening statement – how to select a theme, how to elevate its importance, how to tell a story, how to integrate witnesses’ testimony and key exhibits into the story, and how to steal your opponent’s thunder.
“Opening statements are a trial's most important event,” Ira states in the article’s opening. “Study after study has found that 80 percent of jurors reach a verdict at the end of the trial consistent with the verdict they would have returned immediately after the opening statements.”