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simplyalistofpractical

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

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

Thereisnothingworsethan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their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asif

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

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

 LitigationPartneratLangMichenerOawaHisprimaryworkdealswiththe

SupremeCourtofCanadamainlyassistingotherlawyersintakingcasesboth

leavetoappealandappealHealsodoespubliclawgenerallyincludingpensions

energyoilandgasdefamationinternationaltradeadvicetogovernmentsmunici-

palitiesMrMeehanholdsfourdegreesinlawUniversityofEdinburghLLB

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

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

bertatheNorthwestTerritoriestheYukonandNunavutlicensedtopracticelaw

inthestateofArizonaHewasappointedQueensCounselandwasnational

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

coauthoredeightbooksovertheyears

EMQC

andnotetakers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theeortweallknowalongdictated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areatwhichmay

beawinandmarketshareismaintained

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answerisyes

 Butnoamountofpositioningmarketing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image

 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weakness

 Drawaentiontoastrength

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

ceptionchangesquickly

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

licisprivytothestrategyintentbehindit

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

 Infactthemoreyouknow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and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focusedTrytobesimpleenoughthata

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

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

sentiallyyouknow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informationcommunicationprocessespresentnewchal-

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

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

ersandemail

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

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

puréedformwithbuiltintechniquesthatmotivateaudiencesto

staytuned

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

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

ustoexpectinformationinsmallbitesbytes

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

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

tellthestory

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

dismissanyoneoranything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allinclusiveandmost

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