Mitnik's Brushstrokes

This is the second part of the session that started last week on creating the language of your case. The first part was about picking powerful, perfect words. Now we’ll talk about how to resurrect recognizable phrases and ask winning questions to create an unassailable structure for your case. Old adages carry a lot of weight, like, “You can’t judge a book by its cover.” Questions that you know the right answers to are a great way to help jurors keep their eyes on the ball, such as, “Is it all just a big coincidence?” Tune in for much more.

Mark Twain said, "The difference between the almost-right word and the right word is really a large matter: it is the difference between the lightning bug and lightning." He also said, "Thunder is good, thunder is impressive, but it is lightning that does the work."

In this podcast, I’ll give you some examples of how to turn those nuggets of wisdom into winning trial strategies. It’s about much more than making noise like thunder; it’s about generating electricity to power your case to a just result by picking just the right words.

This session goes to the heart of my "Don’t Eat the Bruises system": Take everything from the defense and leave them nothing. I’ll show you how to devour the defense’s case during your opening statement so they can’t get a foothold with their unfair favorite facts. When done, you’ll be winning at the beginning, which is key to a winning ending.

In this month’s podcast, Keith picks up where he left off last month: on putting an end to belittling pain by explaining the realities in ways jurors can relate to from their own experiences.

It is the kind of pain that does not prevent doing, so much as it interferes with the *experience* of doing. That’s why they call it "pilot light pain": It’s always there flickering, sometimes flaring.

In this month's podcast, Keith lays out a simple two-step process to thwart the defense’s efforts to exploit the fact most pain cannot be seen on the outside. By using an old adage and a new analogy, you can remind the jury of something that they already know to be true: you can’t judge a book by its cover. Once you resurrect this knowledge that the jury brought to the courtroom with them, the defense will no longer be able to play loose and fast with the facts when it comes to pain that may not look like a big deal, but is a big deal.

In this month's podcast, Keith gives you a three-step process to deal with surveillance films: the kind where there are no gotcha inconsistencies, rather they simply show your client getting on with life. If you don’t get out in front of them, the defense will make it seem like they caught your client in the act, when in fact they caught nothing other than someone who has the kind of pain you can’t see from the outside. Keith will show you how to diffuse this sneaky trick and use it to get cause challenges on jurors the defense was counting on for an unfair advantage.

In this session, Keith will give you a countermeasure he designed to put an end to one of the defense’s favorite, unfair tactics: “gaps in treatment.” It works so well, because it puts common sense and life experience back in the picture.

In this session, Keith shares a very effective damage model he created to ensure elderly clients get full justice. He calls it “All Time Is Not Equal.” It is based on reminding jurors of a universal truth: the less there is of anything, the more valuable it becomes. Life is precious — as it begins to run out, moments matter, and time is treasured as the ultimate scarcity.

In the season two opener of Mitnik’s Monthly Brushstrokes podcast, Keith shares the fundamental steps of his Winning At The Beginning system for opening statements. He will show you how to design an opening that will swallow whole the defense’s opening, assuring that you’re ahead after both sides' openings are done. Keith's Winning At The Beginning system is engineered to see to it the jury picks your team, not theirs.

From peculiar witnesses to “Twilight Zone” judges: In a special episode of “Monthly Brushstrokes,” Attorney Keith Mitnik shares wild stories and tips on how to survive and thrive in the face of unforeseen circumstances in the courtroom. A must-listen for new trial lawyers!