Historical interest?
Kaye, Scholer, Fierman, Hays & Handler, LLP
425 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10022
New York, Washington, DC, Los Angeles, Hong Kong
Phone: 212-836-8000
Fax: 212-836-8689
When lawyers and judges complain that jurors fail to grasp legal arguments or scientific concepts, we
suggest the problem isn't IQs or educational levels of the jurors. Rather, it's the trial skills of the
lawyers who presented the case to them.
Long ago, we learned two valuable lessons about juries:
1. Jurors appreciate a good story. Weaving complex scientific or economic information into a
compelling story helps the jury in two ways: By humanizing unfamiliar concepts, it holds their
attention. And, by providing a frame of reference, it helps them tie together and understand diverse
pieces of evidence presented over many weeks of trial.
2. Jurors can't believe what they don't understand. When Xoma Corporation developed something
called an "anti-lipid A region monoclonal antibody of the IgM isotype," we demonstrated to the jury
- with graphis - how the antibody fastened to microbes like a key in a lock. And we showed how
Xoma won the race to invent and patent the first man-made antibody against human sepsis. |
