Carlin J. Phillips. TLC Alumni List Serve - February 1, 2012:
Have to report on my fellow Massachusetts TLCRs victory last week. Chris and I practice in neighboring towns and confront some real tough juries as our offices are near a dying fishing industry and a dying (already dead) mill industry. Chris is a true warrior and I admire his courage going the distance over and over again with some difficult odds. Chris went into nearby RI to try an auto case where D offered only $30K or so before trial and upped the ante some at trial. Chris did a great job and obtained a verdict of $400,000, stunning defense counsel.
What is interesting to me is Chris’s use of voir dire in RI, as we all in MA never get voir dire. Chris was able to use his TLC voir dire techniques in real life probably for one of the first times and, by the result, they worked. Chris reports how after the first day of voir dire, the judge advised him to seek the help of some RI lawyers who know how to do voir dire. In typical TLC fashion, Chris modified the look of his approach to satisfy the judge but still proceeded with TLC type voir dire. Also interesting is that Chris was able to ask for a number from the jury, something else we do not get to do in MA. So Chris was wallowing in procedural bliss over there in RI experimenting with TLC techniques and knocked it out of the park (defense counsel told the jury in closing not even to award medical bills, a gift Chris received graciously and turned it on the defense in his closing). Chris probably won’t report anything out of modesty plus he is a bit swamped as he is currently caught up in an interlocutory appeal on another thorny case and has not had the time to even review his mail.
What is interesting to me is Chris’s use of voir dire in RI, as we all in MA never get voir dire. Chris was able to use his TLC voir dire techniques in real life probably for one of the first times and, by the result, they worked. Chris reports how after the first day of voir dire, the judge advised him to seek the help of some RI lawyers who know how to do voir dire. In typical TLC fashion, Chris modified the look of his approach to satisfy the judge but still proceeded with TLC type voir dire. Also interesting is that Chris was able to ask for a number from the jury, something else we do not get to do in MA. So Chris was wallowing in procedural bliss over there in RI experimenting with TLC techniques and knocked it out of the park (defense counsel told the jury in closing not even to award medical bills, a gift Chris received graciously and turned it on the defense in his closing). Chris probably won’t report anything out of modesty plus he is a bit swamped as he is currently caught up in an interlocutory appeal on another thorny case and has not had the time to even review his mail.
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