Step Two: Organize Your Thoughts
This step is extremely important and will save you a great deal of money. The more diligently you follow the directions laid out here, the more money you will save.
What you will read here should not be construed to be “legal advice." What we are laying out here are simply organizational tips. Your lawyer will give you all the legal advice you'll need. Most of what you'll read here are the same tips we'd give you if we were helping you prepare a speech to deliver to a group of shareholders or professional peers, or a report to your superiors after a lengthy research project.
When you meet with your lawyer for the first time, you will spend a great deal of time telling your side of the story and giving him or her a healthy dose of information about why those opposing you are in the wrong. If you have already done that, as most of you who are reading this have, you still need to follow the steps laid out here.
No matter how great your lawyer is and no matter how scrupulously he paid attention to what you were saying and no matter how detailed his notes were, you will always know and remember more about the details of your legal matter than he will. He's working on two, five or fifteen legal matters that are in different stages of the litigation process. So one of your primary responsibilities will be to assist your lawyer and her team in cataloging and organizing all of the data. You will work closely with your legal team to do this, but it will save you hours and hours of legal fees if you are willing to take a principal role in data organization.
Supplies You'll Need
1. Miquelrius Spiral Notebook, 5 Subject, College Ruled, 125 Sheets/250 Pages, 8.5" x 11", Quantity four.
Amazon, around 4 x $15.00. Why this brand? Because they have heavy backings making them easier to write on and thicker paper which is easier to handle when torn out of the pad. Why so many notebooks? Because you will be using different notebooks for different reasons.
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2. Pilot Precise V7 Stick Rolling Ball Pens, Fine Point, 5-Pack, Blue Ink
Amazon, around $9.00. Why this brand? They always work, until they run out of ink, and you can tell how much ink they have in them because they have a clear window on the shaft. Why blue? Because you will be making notes on documents that are in black and white. Blue stands out.
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3. Post-it Flags Value Pack, Assorted Colors, 1/2 in Wide, 8 Dispensers/Pack, 280 Flags Total plus 48 Arrow Flags (683-VAD1)
Amazon, about $6.00.
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4. Post-it Notes, 3 x 3, Jaipur Collection, 5 Pads/Pack
Amazon, about $9.00.
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5. Oxford, Assorted Rainbow Colors, Ruled, 3 x 5 cards, 20 Each 5 Colors, 100/Pack, 2 Packs (at least)
Amazon, about $9.00.
So far, you've just spent about $70.00 on things you didn't know you would need. Get used to it … lawsuits are expensive, no matter which side you are on. When you get a bill from your lawyer, read it. If there are things you don't understand on that bill call the lawyer's assistant or paralegal and he or she will explain that charge to you. Your lawyer does not want you to wonder if what he or she is charging you is legitimate or fair, but if he is going to be able to do his best to help you prevail, you can't be slowing him down with billing questions. That's one of the many things that you can count on assistants and paralegals to help you with.
Organizing Your Thoughts
Sit down at a desk or table with your new legal pads, pens, and Post-It Notes or Pads.
I want you to think before you start writing. And speak — out loud — as if a judge was sitting in the room with you. Tell that judge everything she needs to know about your case to decide in your favor at the end of a trial, and tell her the entire story ... in thirty seconds or less.
“That's impossible," is what you are most likely thinking right now.
I understand that you think it's impossible. For the past dozen years or so, I've heard clients tell me that their ordeal, their case, their legal matter (as lawyers like to say) is just too complicated or too convoluted to reduce to thirty seconds. It's not.
Let me give you an example. Let's take one of the longest and most emotionally complex movies ever made and tell the entire story in less than thirty seconds.
“This classic film narrates the love between Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler during the American civil war. It's the history of a selfish woman who doesn't want to admit her feelings about the man she loves, and finally, loses him."
Chris Makrozahopolus, writing on IMDB.com managed to complete the task quite nicely in less than thirteen seconds. In the film itself, the opening title sequence (alone) goes on for six minutes and thirty-five seconds—before we hear anyone say a word. There is a lot of information revealed during that time as we learn the names of the major and minor characters, and we learn about important locations. All of this is valuable information. But the typical viewer remembers very little of it.
The same is true in every litigation situation. As we stated previously, facts, dates, numbers, evidence and testimony all matter, but very few of them will be remembered. The challenge for your lawyer is to make sure that those judging you fully understand and embrace the gestalt of those things in a way that will impel them to decide in your favor. So, it's vital that you and your lawyer craft a 20- to 30-second, pithy Elevator Pitch, to give your judge and/or jury a summation of your position that is as powerful as it is memorable.
Your lawyer may want to have the judge and/or jury hear your Elevator Pitch (in slightly altered versions) three times: in the opening statement, in your testimony (or one of your witnesses' testimony), and in the closing argument.
So, let's take the first steps toward creating your Elevator Pitch now. Pick up your blue pen and write three versions of your Elevator Pitch on your legal pad. Note that I said, write on a legal pad, not type on your computer. Studies(1) show that taking notes by hand engages several regions of the brain that typing does not. Engaging these brain regions bolsters comprehension and retention.
Don't take more than fifteen minutes writing your first Elevator Pitches. They will change again and again before you and your lawyer decide what will work best. The point is to get you thinking about this so that during your normal work day if your mind drifts into thinking about your legal dilemma, you have a purpose and goal to focus on — rather than just mentally reiterating the same frustrating thoughts you've had hundreds of times. When you are involved in any litigation, it's hard NOT to think about it. Focusing on creating the perfect Elevator Pitch provides a purpose for your thoughts.
*AN IMPORTANT WARNING:
In this and future chapters, we are instructing you to create a great amount of data: facts, dates, names and contact information. It is extremely important for you to understand that this data is for your eyes and your lawyer’s eyes only. Do not share it with friends or coworkers or anyone else. Do not send this information to your lawyer by email, text or any other electronic means. The safest thing to do is to print it out and hand it to him or her or, stick it in an envelope and mail it.*