Sean Kent

You'll be shocked. The biggest one I find are people relying on notes. And you say, oh, why would you say, why would they not have notes? The example I give when we teach is I ask, I'll go in a group of people and I say, how many of you are married? Hands raised. And I said, how many of you, when you propose or got proposed to, your significant other used notes? And everybody's hands down.

I'm like, well, why didn't they use notes? And everybody will say the same thing. Well, because it was an important day to me. And I said, exactly. If this is the most important day of your life, you don't need notes because you believe in this scenario. The same respect, if a defense attorney is reading from notes, he's telling the jury, I don't believe in this case. I'm just reading my notes.

I'm like, well, why didn't they use notes? And everybody will say the same thing. Well, because it was an important day to me. And I said, exactly. If this is the most important day of your life, you don't need notes because you believe in this scenario. The same respect, if a defense attorney is reading from notes, he's telling the jury, I don't believe in this case. I'm just reading my notes.

I'm like, well, why didn't they use notes? And everybody will say the same thing. Well, because it was an important day to me. And I said, exactly. If this is the most important day of your life, you don't need notes because you believe in this scenario. The same respect, if a defense attorney is reading from notes, he's telling the jury, I don't believe in this case. I'm just reading my notes.

And you can't make sustained eye contact. If it's not too long and it's about 30 minutes and this is your passion, this is how you feel about your client, then you don't need notes. You're telling a story to somebody. So that's the biggest one is I see way too much reliance on notes. And you don't need notes if you believe in this person.

And you can't make sustained eye contact. If it's not too long and it's about 30 minutes and this is your passion, this is how you feel about your client, then you don't need notes. You're telling a story to somebody. So that's the biggest one is I see way too much reliance on notes. And you don't need notes if you believe in this person.

And you can't make sustained eye contact. If it's not too long and it's about 30 minutes and this is your passion, this is how you feel about your client, then you don't need notes. You're telling a story to somebody. So that's the biggest one is I see way too much reliance on notes. And you don't need notes if you believe in this person.

Absolutely. Act in some cases. Absolutely. It is 100%. If they like them, if they believe in them, if they are listening to them, then they're going to give the client a benefit of a doubt. You understand? If the jury hates the lawyer and thinks the lawyer is a jackass and they're not going to listen and they start...

Absolutely. Act in some cases. Absolutely. It is 100%. If they like them, if they believe in them, if they are listening to them, then they're going to give the client a benefit of a doubt. You understand? If the jury hates the lawyer and thinks the lawyer is a jackass and they're not going to listen and they start...

Absolutely. Act in some cases. Absolutely. It is 100%. If they like them, if they believe in them, if they are listening to them, then they're going to give the client a benefit of a doubt. You understand? If the jury hates the lawyer and thinks the lawyer is a jackass and they're not going to listen and they start...

doing their hands like this because they're saying stuff that they cannot believe in, then all of a sudden, they don't like your client.

doing their hands like this because they're saying stuff that they cannot believe in, then all of a sudden, they don't like your client.

doing their hands like this because they're saying stuff that they cannot believe in, then all of a sudden, they don't like your client.

You are so right on that. And that's why a lot of times most trials, anytime we try a case, you have what's called a first chair and a second chair. You probably have seen that in the filings. He is the first chair of the case. All the first chair does is they sit in the first spot. The second chair lawyer or the paralegals behind them are watching the jury.

You are so right on that. And that's why a lot of times most trials, anytime we try a case, you have what's called a first chair and a second chair. You probably have seen that in the filings. He is the first chair of the case. All the first chair does is they sit in the first spot. The second chair lawyer or the paralegals behind them are watching the jury.

You are so right on that. And that's why a lot of times most trials, anytime we try a case, you have what's called a first chair and a second chair. You probably have seen that in the filings. He is the first chair of the case. All the first chair does is they sit in the first spot. The second chair lawyer or the paralegals behind them are watching the jury.

And at the end of the day, they're saying, look, you remember the firefighter on the first row? He didn't like when you insulted Donald Trump. He's clearly a conservative and you went too far. Or the woman in the third row. Those are the things that we are doing. And good lawyers have people watching all of these things.

And at the end of the day, they're saying, look, you remember the firefighter on the first row? He didn't like when you insulted Donald Trump. He's clearly a conservative and you went too far. Or the woman in the third row. Those are the things that we are doing. And good lawyers have people watching all of these things.

And at the end of the day, they're saying, look, you remember the firefighter on the first row? He didn't like when you insulted Donald Trump. He's clearly a conservative and you went too far. Or the woman in the third row. Those are the things that we are doing. And good lawyers have people watching all of these things.

No.