Article by H. Mitchell Caldwell, L. Timothy Perrin, and Christopher L. Frost
In this Article, the authors offer a blueprint for effective closing arguments. The closing argument presents unique challenges and opportunities for trial lawyers. It requires the mastery of a wide range of skills, from explaining the relevant law and integrating it with trial testimony, to incorporating selectively recalled testimony into a comprehensive theme, mitigating or integrating damaging evidence and arguments, and striking the proper emotional tone. And advocates must do all of this with the ultimate goal of persuading the trier of fact to view the case from their perspective. Relying on empirical data from the social sciences and drawing on closing arguments by master advocates, including Abraham Lincoln, Clarence Darrow, Louis Nizer, and Gerry Spence among others, the authors identify ten principles that guide and shape effective closing arguments. The authors, in analyzing the closing argument from both practical and theoretical perspectives, draw on the practical wisdom that comes from past successes and the empirical truths that come from social-science observation and experimentation. Those perspectives reveal that ultimate success comes when advocates are credible, organized, thematic, clear, direct, and brief; when they reason through the evidence with the jury; when they use analogies, stories, and demonstrative aids, and connect the case to each juror's emotions.
About the Author
H. Mitchell Caldwell. Professor of Law, Pepperdine University School of Law.
L. Timothy Perrin. Professor of Law, Pepperdine University School of Law.
Christopher L. Frost. Associate, Kirkland & Ellis, Los Angeles, California; Adjunct Professor, Pepperdine University School of Law.
Citation
76 Tul. L. Rev. 961 (2002)