Miles B. Cooper

Maintaining the personal touch in personal injury through regular client contact “And John Doe called. He said it had been a while since he had checked in and wanted an update.” The lawyer and legal assistant were doing the daily review. “Let’s pull up the calendar … wow. With this week’s depo schedule it is going to be hard to...

Mini-openings, neutral statements, and overselling in the name of primacy The defense counsel insisted. The neutral statement, in the defendants’ contentions section, must say defendants contend plaintiff waived his right to bring a lawsuit by signing a contractual waiver. After much argument, the phrase stayed in. The contention, a primacy effort, came back to haunt the defense during jury selection....

The initial contact with a potential client sets the tone The lawyer’s phone buzzed – it was a text from the office. “Good potential case call just now – please check email.” The lawyer pulled up the email. It contained a short summary of the incident and a police report. The lawyer happened to be near the town where the...

A handy “how to” for effective use of jury questionnaires. Details, details… The lawyer thought about the case. Gay marriage. Chronic opioid use. A waiver. And an impending trial in a conservative county. A few hurdles there. Why try it? Because what the defendants had done was awful, because they weren’t offering anything significant, and because it was the right...

Lessons learned from a case with personal impact “Scout, simply by the nature of the work, every lawyer gets at least one case in his lifetime that affects him personally. This one’s mine I guess.” To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee, 1960, HarperCollins Publishers, p. 87. For many lawyers, Atticus Finch epitomizes what we would like to be. An individual...

Life lessons in the law following a life lost It was a crisp fall day, the great window in the gathering space framing skeletal trees outside. I sat in the audience, listening to the memorial service. People got up and told stories about the man who had passed, and the man’s contributions to the community. That community included family, friends,...

Balancing your “thinking work” with lawyering’s responsive requirements The lawyer focused on the computer screen, considering which direction to go with the mediation brief. There was a knock on the office door – the receptionist had a quick question. The lawyer answered it, and then attempted to go back to the brief. A text came in. The lawyer pulled out...

The strategy, art, and irritation inherent to deposition objections “What did you do next?” The lawyer was deposing the defendant driver about the incident itself. “Objection! He’s already told you that he was not on his cell phone or texting and that after the collision, after first calling 911, he then immediately went and rendered aid to your client,” the...

Preparing for the defense expert’s deposition “I see you wrote a book on the topic you’re here to discuss,” said the lawyer to the expert during the expert’s deposition. “Yes, I did. Unfortunately,” the expert appeared to simultaneously shrug and smirk, “it is no longer in print.” “That’s true,” said the lawyer while reaching into the lawyer’s messenger bag, “but...

The trial lawyer and appellate lawyer’s delicate pas de deux The lawyer smiled inside as the clerk finished reading the verdict. Substantially more than the defense’s last offer. The lawyer buzzed a bit while taking down the jury polling and as the judge said a final “thank you” to the jury. Then the lawyer went outside to get feedback from...