Lawyers

The Media, Lawyers, and Politicians all share a special place in the hearts and minds of the American People.

We have a high level of disdain and mistrust for these three professions, until such time that we need their services.

When we examine this love-hate relationship more closely, we see that people generally like their own lawyer or their own elected representative, it is just other lawyers and other politicians that people despise.

Are Lawyers parasites or public servants ?

Lawyers claim they are the last line of defense for the “little person”, particularly in battles against large corporations.

The 1973 Pinto had a propensity to explode when hit from the rear. Lawyers forced the Ford company to pay large damages to victims and change the design of the car, thereby protecting the consumer.

Of course, the other reality concerning the exploding Pinto’s is that Lawyers (working with financial analysts) within the Ford company kept the company from changing the design on the car in the first place, arguing that the cost of the $ 2 rubber bladder to insulate the gas tank (and in particular, the extra minute this would add to the assembly line) was too high. According to their financial projections, it would be cheaper to pay off the occasional complaint than to fix this structural defect.

Yesterday (Sept 23, 1999) Janet Reno announced the Federal Government would file a multi billion dollar lawsuit against the tobacco companies for hiding evidence concerning the negative health effects and marketing a product which is inherently dangerous to consumers.

Last year, the tobacco companies agreed to a 240 billion dollar settlement with approx. 30 states, to help defray health costs paid by state governments to treat nicotine related health problems (lung, throat, and mouth cancer, to name a few).

Multi State Cigarette Settlement of 1998 (continued)

The 240 billion is to be paid out over 25 years. Approx 9.6 billion dollars a year.

To raise this money, cigarette manufacturers simply raised the price of cigarettes (somewhere between 35 and 55 cents a pack), effectively passing along the costs of the settlement to their customers.

Additionally, by signing on to the tobacco settlement, states gave away the right for citizens in these states to file an individual suit against the tobacco companies. This granted these companies a special form (indeed, unprecedented) of legal immunity.

Of course, perhaps we shouldn’t be too hard on the Attorneys General who agreed to the deal or the state legislators who agreed to the deal, because

Politicians are addicted to money just as cigarette smokers are addicted to nicotine.

The federal suit is supposed to go after the profits which have been made over the last 45 years, as well as going after health costs.

Lawyer Training

Law School is typically a three year process, and law students graduate with a JD.

Law School professors typically employ the Socratic Method of teaching.

Socratic Method : The Teacher asks students questions concerning material in order to get the student to increase critical thinking skills through active participation.

With the Socratic Case method used by law school professors, students are quizzed concerning specific circumstances of assigned cases and must be able to point out the underlying legal principles which guide the disposition of the case.

The underlying legal principle of a legal case is known as the holding. (What holds this case together, in a legal sense)

The judicial principle of stare decis creates continuities of these legal holdings.

Being a Lawyer in an adversarial system.

Part of the lawyers tarnished image comes directly from the way our legal system works.

Because lawyers are expected to be the best advocate for their side, the public often picks up on the fact that lawyers have very little interest in getting to the “truth”. Lawyers want to put the “spin” on facts which puts their client in the best possible light.

In our first jury video with the armed robbery case, we saw that this was a complaint made by one of the jury members.

Valerie Hans & Krista Sweigert (1993) examined which attributes of lawyers are jury members most sensitive to.

1. How organized the attorney(s) was (were)

“Just a minute your honor, I know I have that paper in here somewhere”

2. How credible the attorney(s) was (were)

Is this someone who you believe is truthful ?

(The appearance of honesty is much more important than actually being hones)

3. The level of emotion used by the Lawyer while arguing the case.

Jurors like to see a use of emotion which is appropriate to the case.A lawyer who uses histrionics in arguing that their client being deprived of a week long vacation was a major emotional setback might well be regarded as deceptive or over the top.

Jurors feel the levels of emotions used should be commensurate with the facts of the case.

Jurors stated that they were most impressed by attorneys who were moderate in their emotional appeals, and were well organized and had a professional demeanor.

Lawyers themselves do not necessarily realize that the jurors are looking for moderation and professionalism. Lawyers also have misconceptions and feel the ideal lawyer is a Clarence Darrow or Matlock like figure who makes extensive use of theatrics and emotional hyperbole in the courtroom.

Gerry Spence is one of the most well known defense lawyers in the US. Gerry dresses in cowboy clothes and uses flamboyant language to argue his cases.

The outfit is all part of the impression management techniques he uses. A cowboy outfit screams I am a real American – just like you poor slobs of the jury.

# 2, cowboys are rugged individualists, who talk straight and shoot straight. So the cowboy costume screams honesty – trust me. #3, cowboys had an inherent distrust of the legal system, so the costume says to the jury, I would not be here if it wasn’t very important. All of these factors help create a connection with the jury.

Diamond, Casper, and Heirt (1994) ; Examined comments former jurors made while watching a videotape of a trial.

They recorded that the vast majority of comments about the attorneys concerned how they presented the evidence , and only 7% of the comments were centered on personal characteristics of the attorneys.

However, a large body of evidence within social psychology suggests that people don’t always recognize in what ways their behaviors or thoughts are influenced by outside factors.

Courtroom Conduct

Lawyers are supposed to be zealots, within the adversarial system.

Casper, Tyler, & Fisher (1988) : Interviewed convicted felons had a greater perception of procedural fairness when they had an attorney who exhibited a high level of intensity.

The modern rules of professional conduct, however, prohibit lawyers from engaging in dishonest or deceitful conduct in the courtroom, or behaving in a prejudicial manner.

Withholding evidence or witnesses during discovery is seen as unethical.

If a lawyer gives a client technical advice on how to evade or break the law, they can be charged as an accomplice.

Commonly used trial tactics:

Delaying the case by filing motion after motion.

Delaying the case by taking extensive and time consuming dispositions.

Delaying the case by making unreasonable or overly extensive requests for discovery.

Questioning of witnesses is one major area where attorneys can influence the jury.

Merely by questioning the professional credibility of a witness, this can reduce the credibility of that witness in the eyes of the jury, regardless of the answer.

Lawyers can put their own spin on the case by asking questions which they know will not withstand objection.

Despite a judge ordering the jury to “disregard the last question”, there is no memory erase button in the court room.

Lawyers also like to distract jury members from the facts of the actual case by either “putting the victim on trial”, or putting the ‘system on trial”

Johnny Cochoran did an excellent job of putting much of the focus of the O.J. Simpson case on the LAPD and the coroners office.

Technology in the Courtroom

Computer simulations of crimes are allowed to be shown in the courtroom.

This use is restricted because of the high cost involved.

These computer simulations can distort the facts in subtle ways and can also increase the emotional content of the trial.

Remember the computer designer’s motto “GIGO”.

The more vivid testimony, evidence, or a computer simulation is, the more likely it is that the particular piece of evidence will be remembered by the jury.

For example, people commonly believe that flying is more dangerous than driving. This is partly due to the fact that airplane crashes are very graphic, easy to remember, and get extensive media coverage.

(availability heuristic)