Would he or she be like me? Are they rich or poor? Are they college grads or do they have GED's? What do they do for a living? Are they from an ethnic group different than mine? Are they male or female? Are they old or young? Are they sick or injured or healthy? Do they have a pet? kids? divorced or married? Where do they live?
Do the answers to any of these questions matter?
An affirmative YES! and, then, a resounding No! The answers matter, but not in the way you think. They matter after the attorney-client relationship has begun, not before. They matter when I am crafting the complaint or the defense. They matter when I draft or respond to discovery requests. They matter when I present your story to the jury.
What matters most is that the client has a story to tell.
If the client is injured, physically or financially, then I need to know who is the villain of the story -- is it a person, corporation, employer, police officer, jailer, or government that has injured the client through neglect or because they intended to? Who did it? I need to know if someone ran into him, or if a cop beat him during an arrest, or if he was ripped off by a business, or had his rights violated.
If the client has been arrested, then I need to know that the story demonstrates that the police or the prosecutor has violated my client's rights, or that my client affirms his innocence, or that he may be guilty of a crime, but not one as serious as the crime he is charged with. If he is appealing his case, then the story must talk about mistakes the judge made, or the prosecutor, or his trial attorney.
And, the stories must also talk about the client. Who she is. Where she is from. How things got to the way they are today. Why did it happen? The jury cares about these things. And, that is who we, my clients and I, care about.
So, the perfect client is a client who has a story to tell. And that story exists and can come to life for everyone who has been injured, neglected, abused, ripped off, falsely accused, bullied, discriminated against, or falsely imprisoned (to mention just a few). We are all unique. We all have a story. That story can be told in a way that compels people to listen. That story can be told in a way that demands justice. The perfect client's story can be told in a way that makes people care - makes the jury care!
My job is to tell that story. My job is to make sure that the jury sees you. That they feel your pain, your outrage, your emotional distress, your fear, your hopelessness, your physical restrictions, your broken heart, your anger at being charged falsely, your panic about spending time in jail, your injured child or wife or husband, your depression because of your injury or because your rights were violated and you were abused. They must understand the bills that are piling up. They must see how this is affecting those you love and who love you.
I have to reach down inside of me and find the power to show them you - the perfect client. I will and do, all the time, show the jury how they can be the heroes in your life. They can save you. In fact, in most cases, the jury is your best and most powerful ally. If we can show them your story, honestly, openly and let them feel it with you, let them experience it with you, they will come along beside you and help you. You can trust them. I have seen it.
The perfect client is the client who gives me the gift of telling his story to the jury.
I hope that is you.
All the best,
Bob Vogel
Trial Attorney
The Vogel Law Firm
rlvogel@robertvogellaw.com
865-357-1949
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