Working Hard to Make it Easy
Historically the focus of these Success Stories has been the amount recovered for clients.
We just settled a case for quite a bit of money. But writing about money gets old.
What's more interesting than the result is how we got there and the little things that went well along the way.
Last year I co-coached the Clyde Hill Elementary soccer team. The program is backed by a church-based organization. It infuses the program with its culture (but not its religion).
After every game we did "Atta-Ways." The rules were pretty simple. The kids from both teams sat in a circle and went around acknowledging something that another players did well.
"Angela was a really good sport and helped Caroline up after she ran into her--two claps for Angela!"
I think that with these Success Stories we can do that for ourselves, experts, opposing counsel, clients, etc. But I digress.
The little thing that went well in the case we just settled (and produced the big result) was the defendant's deposition. Before the deposition Sam and I worked hard to make it easy for the defendant--who was asserting a sudden medical emergency defense--to say that there was nothing sudden at all about the progression of his symptoms.
The defendant responded brilliantly and went out of his way to explain how his symptoms got progressively worse over time and there was nothing sudden at all about them.
Two claps for making it easy for the defendant to help us shoot down the sudden medical emergency defense and get the case settled.