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Lessons from LA Law-- How to Build a Winning Case through the use of Cinematic Techniques

By William S. Bailey

Seventy years ago, Clarence Darrow could give an 8-hour closing argument that left the jury spellbound. This was not only because he gave a virtuoso performance, but also because his audience was unconditioned by the verbal and visual shorthand of film and television.

Darrow would be labeled a windbag or worse by a 1990's jury. Jurors now look at a real life trial with the same set of expectations they have for the viewing of television and films. A trial lawyer who fails to match the pace, production and entertainment the jurors are accustomed to elsewhere will lose their attention and possibly the whole case.

Serving as a juror two years ago forever changed the way I approach my cases. I saw the courtroom ritual with a spectator's eyes for the first time and realized the horrible truth: much of what trial lawyers do is boring.

Despite the good lawyering on both sides, the trial on which I sat almost put me to sleep. Why? The pace of the information presented was much slower than what I was accustomed to seeing on television or in a movie.

The shrinking attention span is a fact of life in the 1990's. It can be seen even in the world of TV lawyers. In the 1950's and 1960's, Perry Mason personified lawyers to the public. He pursued his cases at a relaxed pace. It took him a whole hour to figure out who committed the murder, usually with Paul Drake coming in at the last minute with the critical information.

Compared to "L.A. Law" in the 1990's, Perry Mason moved at a snail's pace. Quite often, three separate cases are tried in one episode of "L.A. Law". No case takes over ten minutes. Numerous romantic trysts are sandwiched in between. This show has not invented anything new; it simply recognizes the diminishing attention span of the general public.

The general flow of information in trial drags in comparison to what jurors experience through all forms of the electronic media. There is a crucial distinction to be made - courtroom time is measured in hours, media time is measured in seconds. The average TV news program takes only a minute and 30 seconds to cover a story - 30 seconds to set the stage, 30 seconds to tell the details, and 30 seconds to wrap up. For most of this time, there is also a picture, a diagram, or a cutaway to a location shot on the screen for visual interest. Yet, to express points no more complex, a lawyer often consumes an hour or more in the courtroom, with very few accompanying visuals. The net effect of this comparison is juror boredom with the courtroom of real life. >>NEXT