Whoever tells the best story wins

I've been immersing myself in various worlds lately, head in a book and a hot beverage always within reach. It's been heavenly and in line with one of the values I described in my last blog post, Peace. 

This immersion has also had me thinking a lot about storytelling and the art of it, the impact of it in every day life and professional life. Especially professional life.

So let me tell you a story.

In my first year as a lawyer I was lucky enough to join one of the partners at my firm on a trial. I was working at an insurance defence litigation firm and the file involved a pedestrian being struck down by a driver. The driver had admitted fault and the Plaintiff's injuries were significant and long lasting. It was a terrible case. Not one a defence lawyer would want to litigate before a jury. The partner wanted to settle it. The client wanted to settle it. No one on our side wanted to take this case to trial. Honestly, no one on our side thought it would go to trial. I've had files where I thought the client was being unreasonable or cheap in their offer in light of the facts and injuries, this was not that. 

So one day, after another failed pre-trial, after another failed attempt to settle during jury selection it became clear. Trial starts tomorrow. To say we were shocked is an understatement.

Early in my career, a senior lawyer once told me, "Good cases settle. Only bad cases go to trial." That certainly rang true here. 

I cannot stress enough that neither the partner nor the client thought this case would ever see a courtroom. 

We were not prepared. The partner had just inherited the file from another partner (like, the week before), and I was supposed to just be involved to help do research. That was supposed to be the extent of my role. I had barely been a lawyer for 5 minutes. When jury selection completed and it was clear that we were about to start a 4 week trial, all of a sudden I was elevated to Second Chair. I was going to participate as a key member of the trial team rather than observe and support. 

The Plaintiff's lawyers were excellent. They were smart and well prepared. They knew their case and they knew they were in the stronger position. They were everything we were not in this instance. We were nervous and shocked and scared. And then we won the trial.

Those 4 weeks were some of the most stressful and exciting days of my entire career. I learned a lot in that courtroom. And none of it about justice.  

I learned about the importance of storytelling. I learned about performance. I learned about the power of humour. I learned about developing rapport with the audience.

Both sides, Plaintiff and Defendant teams, had the same set of facts. We had the same reports, the same medical records, and the same transcripts of examinations of the same witnesses. But each side wove a different story with those facts, emphasizing and de-emphasizing different aspects. And each side brought that story to life in very different ways with very different demeanours.

I walked away from that experience realizing that the courtroom was a stage. It was not a place of justice, only theatre.

No we were not the most prepared. No we did not have the facts on our side. But we were certainly more fun to watch. Laughter was our strength.

Our tactic was simply to poke holes in the Plaintiff's case. To make the conclusions of their experts seem ludicrous. Not in a pointed negative way, but in a "how silly and goofy" kind of way. We had the jury laughing and smiling. The Plaintiff's lawyers had the jury furrowed and serious.

I examined a few witnesses, but mostly I watched the jury. I advised the partner when a line of questioning resonated with the jury and let him know when it didn't. I recall one day when we were both exhausted and he was cranky and he took that out on a witness he was cross-examining, coming off quite harsh and aggressive. This was in sharp contrast to the warm, charming, and funny character the jury had come to know until that point. I watched the jury during this examination. Their body language changed. They stiffened, retracted. He lost them on that one and I let him know.

Our opponent lawyers were lovely humans and working with them was a very pleasant and positive experience. But I realized in the courtroom, that the jury did not see the people we knew. They were putting on a different performance in that courtroom. Putting on more aggressive personas. They were telling a harsher story. And ultimately, the jury didn't buy it.

When we won that trial, we were stunned. STUNNED. I think everyone in that room was stunned. Actually, I KNOW everyone in that room was stunned. It wasn't until that moment that I realized what had happened, what had been happening over the last 4 weeks. 

As John Quincy Adams once said, "Whoever tells the best story wins."

I took that lesson to heart. How could I not after seeing what we were positive was going to be an epic and embarrassing loss become a shocking and monumental win for our client (and us). 

You're the one telling your story. So tell a good one. 

Countless times in my career since then, I've used this lesson to transform the story I tell when I present myself to new lawyers, interviewers, recruiters, and colleagues. Your first impression is the story you tell, what you choose to share and emphasize in those first few moments. 

I've transitioned practice areas in my career many times and it's not because I had relevant job experience, it's because the story I told about myself emphasized aspects of my previous experience to portray myself as the right fit for the job/company. Know your audience. I did civil litigation and intellectual property concentrations in law school; I only mentioned one in my story when I was pursuing a career in litigation and I only mentioned one when I was pursuing entertainment law - I think you can guess which in each case. 

Look at your resume. What story does it tell about you?

Look at your cover letter. What story does it tell about you?

Look at your social media accounts, your emails, or those DMs you send on LinkedIn. What stories do they tell about you?

And if you don't like them. Rewrite them.