Joe Price's Thoughts on 5 ways to Botch a Trial in Law360

Law360 called on nationally recognized trial litigator Joe Price, partner in the product liability practice at Faegre Baker Daniels, for his insight on the top ways lawyers botch jury trials. His first advice? Don't be a jerk. "If [jurors] think you're a jerk and they hold it against your client for having a jerk of a lawyer, you really do a disservice to the client," Price said. 

Price, who was recently named a Litigation Trailblazer by the National Law Journal and an MVP in product liability by Law360, stressed the importance of being relateable to jurors rather than making a point to prove one's own intelligence. 

"A good trial lawyer has to resist the temptation to show the witnesses and jury how smart they are...by using all the big words and complex theories," he said. "A good trial lawyer knows how to make the difficult easy, or easier, so that other laypeople -- jurors -- understand the points she is trying to make."