tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8797548749870864034.post753353038808243041..comments2024-03-17T02:41:07.351-05:00Comments on Advocacy Teaching Blog: Random Thoughts from a McDonald'sChris Behanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09758408764783435612noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8797548749870864034.post-14863329414805078332012-12-03T07:35:00.696-06:002012-12-03T07:35:00.696-06:00Chris: I'm leaving for a big mediation today ...Chris: I'm leaving for a big mediation today on a PI case with huge<br />damages, but difficult liability. It is so hard to convince plaintiff<br />clients about the long haul play-out of putting the whole thing<br />together for a trial--- procedural nuances, evidentiary problems,<br />liens that nibble away at success, and the sometimes myopic vision of<br />injured people who cannot even believe that jurors may have a<br />different perception of the matter than they do.. I guess you have<br />to get old and experienced to have a view of the big picture, and then<br />the challenge is to convey it diplomatically to the client. If<br />mediation fails, we try the case with all the zeal of the young<br />football players you took to Champaign. Nice sports/trial advocacy<br />analogy by you. Oh, by the way, the insurance company on my case<br />demanded that Prof. Tom Stewart be our mediator, and this was<br />obviously fine with me. We have quite a few retired judges in St.<br />Louis who fatten their pensions as mediators, but your friend and<br />mine. Tom Stewart, is developing the reputation as the best damn<br />mediator in town. You and Charlie Rose deserve a holiday/year-end tip<br />of the hat for your incredible and indefatigable blog efforts. Thanks<br />so much and Happy Holidays to all. Hardy MeneesHardy Meneesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8797548749870864034.post-3875496647362451452012-11-24T12:11:50.360-06:002012-11-24T12:11:50.360-06:00An Addendum to Random Thoughts from a McDonald'...An Addendum to Random Thoughts from a McDonald's:<br /><br />We watched the game in the bitter cold of Memorial Stadium, 35 degrees with a stiff wind. Aurora Christian gave up two early touchdowns. Behind 12-0 in the first quarter, they stuck with their game plan and ended up winning the game 42-12.<br /><br />On the way home, my son and I discussed the lessons he learned from the game. He said he was surprised to see that neither team appeared significantly faster, better or stronger than his team, an insight that matched my own. In his words, this took away the intimidation factor of the game. Second, he thought the difference in the game had to do with the way the teams reacted to setbacks and mistakes. The team that remained calm and stuck to its game plan prevailed. Third, he thought that experiencing the atmosphere of a championship game was good preparation for next year.<br /><br />He felt it was well worth enduring the long drive and the bitter cold to learn these lessons.<br /><br />So I started thinking about how I might apply some similar lessons to coaching trial teams. Usually, when we go to a tournament and get eliminated, we skip the championship rounds.<br /><br />That's loser behavior, and it shouldn't be a surprise that we've not made it to a championship round yet.<br /><br />But I'm changing. At the In Vino Veritas competition, I actually attended the championship round and learned more about coaching a winning team than three previous years of coaching teams on a trial-and-error basis had taught me. And what intrigues me the lessons I learned from watching the championship round were very similar to those my son learned from attending someone else's state championship football game.<br /><br />I'd like to actually coach my students in a championship round one of these days, but in the meantime, I'm going to require them to start watching the championship rounds at the tournaments we compete in. They need to see how close they are to success (much closer than they believe). They also need to see how winners deal with inevitable adversity (still a problem for us). And they need to experience a championship atmosphere to whet their own appetites to return.<br /> Chris Behanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09758408764783435612noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8797548749870864034.post-89668030985384762062012-11-24T10:34:59.043-06:002012-11-24T10:34:59.043-06:00Check out "Power Poses" by Amy Cuddy of ...Check out "Power Poses" by Amy Cuddy of Harvard Business School as a way to prepare for success in the courtroom.Jeanne Jourdannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8797548749870864034.post-1711966892709786602012-11-24T10:32:57.916-06:002012-11-24T10:32:57.916-06:00Great post!
I remember watching my kids playing ...Great post!<br /> <br />I remember watching my kids playing high school soccer (two played on State championship teams) and agonizing because they had to succeed or fail without any real help from me; all I could do was watch. I’m sure those of you who coach Trial Teams feel that way at every competition. <br /> <br />I love that scene from Hoosiers, too, but I’d like to posit a slight variation on what I think it means. Hackman has his team do their measurements (and remember that one team member literally has another on his back to do that), then gives them the speech about the dimensions. But then, as he’s following the team out, he turns to one of the other adults and says “It is big!” I think the point is not just that the dimensions of the court are the same, but that the skills the players have – what brought them to this point – are still the same, too. If they can use those skills to win in Hickory’s tiny gym, they also can use them to win in Butler’s mammoth fieldhouse.<br /> <br />That’s why I always do the final trials for my Trial Practice classes in my courtroom at the courthouse downtown. I want them to begin to feel the pressure of that real arena, the one where they will spend their professional lives -- but I also want them to begin to feel comfortable there, to become empowered, using the skills they learned at the law school and seeing those skills translate to that larger stage – and to the representation of real clients. When I tell them the schedule for final trials, I reference my reasons for going to the courthouse thusly: “School is where we go to learn. The courthouse is where we go to work.”<br /> <br />Best ----<br /> <br />Bob<br /> Bob McGaheynoreply@blogger.com