As a lawyer and a sports fan, I have thought of a jury trial using the metaphors of sporting competitions. In this post, I will explain how each segment of a jury trial can be analyzed as a part of sports.

The first activity in a jury trial is voir dire or picking the jury. Voir dire reminds me of selecting a team in grade school. Picking the top players is not a problem but, there are always those few potential players/jurors that are troubling. Face it, you are going to get stuck with some players/jurors on your panel that you don’t particularly want; quite often however, the last few chosen turn out to be the most valuable players.

The opening statement can be compared to pregame introductions. The introductions can go on too long. Consider the build-up to the Superbowl, for instance; The Superbowl pre-shows seemingly go on forever. Attorneys should recognize that their opening statements should be concise, to the point and relatively short in duration but should be compelling to provide that pre-game excitement that only a sportscaster/trial attorney can instill.

In another metaphor, I compare Direct examination of witnesses with the tee shot in golf. You can tee the ball up as high as you want anywhere in the tee box area. The ball is set stationary on a tee and the etiquette is that everyone must be quiet. The golfer takes his or her best whack and hits the ball as straight and far down the fairway as possible. Direct examination of your witnesses allows you an opportunity to go wherever you choose with your case but straight and within the rules. It is an opportunity to prepare your friendly, cooperative witnesses to respond to open ended questions to prove your case and to get as far down the fairway as possible.

Taking our analysis to the baseball field, cross examination of the adversary’s expert witnesses can make one feel like a baseball pitcher pitching to the cleanup batter. Crafting cross examination questions to keep the witness off balance is tantamount to mixing up curve balls with sliders and fastballs, and mixing a knuckleball in occasionally with the hope of striking out the batter/witness. All the while, there is a concern that one of the questions/pitches will be hit out of the park, if it isn’t asked just right.

Finally, the most exciting part of a trial for the lawyer may be the closing argument. This is the opportunity to pull the whole trial together and bring it home. This phase of the trial feels like a great finish at the marathon. You have run a steady well paced race and now you are coming in with a strong finish, fist pumping with your arms up over your head. Winning a well handled jury trial feels like winning the marathon. The feeling that you definitely want to avoid is that of having to throw a Hail Mary pass at the end of a game.

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