Writing Strategically and Persuasively for the Personal Injury Plaintiff

• Author: Eugene Meehan
• Pages: 345-378



WritingStrategicallyand

Persuasivelyforthe

PersonalInjuryPlainti

Eugene Meehan, Q.C.*

INTRODUCTIONTHISISNOTAPAPER

This isnot a paperand deliberatelysoIt issi mplyal istof practical

pointsour SupremeCourtGroupin Oawausesto strategicallyrevise

whatsomeoneels ehaswrienasa rstdra ortodra fromscratch

Thereisnothingworset hanreadingsomeoneelseswritingaboutwrit-

ing Itis hoped t hat the points below reect a practical nononsense

summaryofsomeofthemoreeectivetacticsofwrienadvocacy

Thatbeingsaidmanylawyersbelievetheyfulllt heirrolebysim-

plydelivering information to their clients orto the court in a wrien

formAllone hastodois writeitdownrightwriteTheywritea sif

theirsole functionis toact asaconduit fortherawdata theirresea rch

has unearthed But lawyers must be more than walki ng photocopiers

 LitigationPartneratLa ngMichenerOawaHisprima ryworkdealswiththe

SupremeCourtofCanadama inlyassisti ngotherlawyersintak ingcasesboth

leavetoappealandappealHealsodoespubl iclawgenerallyincludingpen sions

energyoilandgasdefamationi nternationaltradeadvicetogover nmentsmunici-

palitiesMrMeehanholdsfourdegr eesinlawUniversityofEdinbu rghLLB

McGillUniversityLLMUniversityofOawaLLBandDoctorofCivi lLaw

fromMcGillUniversity DCLHeisapracticingmemberofs ixbarsOntarioAl-

bertatheNort hwestTerritoriestheYukonandNunavutlicens edtopracticelaw

inthestateofAri zonaHewasappointedQueensCounselandwasnat ional

presidentoftheCanadi anBarAssociation MrMeehanhasauthoredor

coauthoredeightbook sovertheyears

EMQC

andnoteta kersThey shouldbeaccomplished writersmeaningstra-

tegicwriterstacticalwritersItisimportanttobestrategicandbeatacti-

cianonyourfeetinthecourtroomitisjustasimportanttobestrategic

andbeatacticianonthepageIttakeshardworkbutthenishedprod-

uctiswortht heeortweallknowalongd ictatedleerisaloteasier

todothan ashortoneandwecan allrecognize afartoolongdictated

leertoo

“POSITIONING”—WHAT AD AGENCIES DO

Adagencies oratleast someof themposition aproduct ina market-

placeorposition amanufacturer ina marketplaceTheysucceed sales

goupfailsalesgodownorcomeoutevensalesa reatwhichmay

beawinandmarketshareismai ntained

An advertising correspondent Mike Tennant on CBC Radios

DenitelyNottheOperasaysthefollowingabouthisprofessionDoesany

ofthisapplytousaslawyersinhowwewriteanopinionleeramotion

recordorafactum

 DoespositioningworkTheshortan swerisyes

 Butno amou ntof position ingmarket ing will change your mind

about

 Anissue

 Acandidate

 Aheadacheremedy

 Asaladdressing

 Whatpositioningcandois

 Soenanimage

 Sharpenanim age

 Createafavourablerstimpression

 Boostmomentum

 Helpslowmomentum

 Tripup a forcefu l argument with a wellplaced yes but or a

wellplaced practical proverb or analogy t hat a normal ie

nonlawyernonjudgepersoncanconnectwith

 Distractaentionfromaweak ness

 Drawaentiontoastrength

 Thekeyisthattheadmusthavesomebasis inperceptionandper-

ceptionchangesqu ickly

 Aneectiveadisonethatdoesnotchangesimplybecausethepub-

licisprivytothestrateg yintentbehindit

WritingStrategicallyandPersuasivelyforthePersonalInjuryPlaintiff

 Infactthemoreyouk nowaboutthenutsandboltsthemoreyou

understand what iti s geing at ieth e thinking be hind itthe

morelikelyareyoutobeaecteda ndpersuadedbyit

Implications for Legal Writing—Keep It Simple

KeepyourmessagesimpleIdeasstillneed tobebigbuttobeeect-

ivethey mustbe clear andfoc usedTry tobe simpleenough thata

strangerpreferablyevenanonlawyercanreadandunderstandit

Thebestargumentisonethatseem stobemerelyanexplanationEs-

sentiallyyouk nowyouhavecreatedastrong marketing argument

whenyourprospectsrespondbysayingthatmakessense

KNOW AND WRITE TO YOUR AUDIENCE

Communicating to a New Audience

Changesini nformationcommunicationprocesses presentnewchal-

lengesto legal w riting Persuasivelegal wr iting must consider and

tacklet hechallenges presentedbytheimpactof televisioncomput-

ersandemail

Takeforinstancetheeectsoftelevisiononcommunication

Passi vity »Information is delivered in a painless unchal lenging

puréed formw ithbuiltintechn iquesthat motivate audiencesto

staytuned

Inaention »Onelistenswithbarelyhal fanear

Lack of continuity »Commercialsand dailylifeinterruptionsteach

ustoexpectinformationinsm allbitesbytes

Tight, succinct stories »Oneandahalfminutespernewsstory

Visual support »Wordsare no longerthe message giverspicture s

tellthestory

Remote-control dismissal »We know howmuch power we have to

dismissanyoneoranythi ngthatdoesnotpleaseusrightaway

What is prime »—Teacheswhat is worth listen ing to and staying

tunedin toandwhatisconsideredboringunimportantorwith-

outmassappeal

Rise to the Challenge

Uselanguage thatis clearexplicit succinctal linclusiveandmost

ofallvisualsoyouraudiencecanpicturewhatyouaretalkingabout