Ten Tips for Writing Your Opening Statement and Closing Argument

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It is ironic—as a litigation consultant, I write opening statements and closing arguments much more frequently than I did in my 16 years of litigating. I now get involved in a case at the fun part, past the discovery phase, at the eve of trial or mediation when it must all come together for presentation to a judge or jury.

In my work at Cogent Legal, I have the opportunity to help attorneys develop their presentations and to create visuals that will help inform and persuade. In this post, I’ll share some insights that I’ve gathered from going to court myself and from helping other litigators get ready for court.

1. Start Writing Your Opening and Closing Now

It is never too early to start thinking about your opening and closing. Although you may be busy today, you will be even busier as trial approaches, so start now. Keep a file (paper or electronic) with thoughts about opening and closing, and update that file often as you go through the case. As a litigator, my firm often participated in “beauty contests” where we would pitch a client to get a case after we had done an initial analysis. One reason that we won many of those pitches is that we would develop for the client a strategy for the entire case, including what we planned to argue in closing argument and why that argument gave the client the best chance of winning. Knowing what you intend to say in closing will focus you on what you need to do each day as you develop your case. (more…)