This and That: By Dennis Wade

“Loser” “Total Loser” “Totally biased loser” “Dummy” “Dope” “Dumb” “Zero/no credibility” “Crazy” “Wacko” “Disaster.” I could go on, listing the epithets used by now President Trump in his Tweets. Recently, Judge Barbara Jaffe of the New York State Supreme Court absolved then Candidate Trump from a libel action, finding that Trump’s Tweet attacks against a political operative were constitutionally protected expressions of opinion.*

But this post is totally apolitical. It’s about the 140 characters in a Tweet; about Instagram and SnapChat. In fact, it’s really a musing about how insurance defense lawyers need to communicate with jurors who use and follow these forms of modern communication.

Good lawyers tell good stories. But to reach millennials we have to think very carefully about our defense theme and how we get it across. Ideally, the theme should be Tweet-like, short and to the point. In most defense cases a good way to start developing a Tweet-like theme is to fill in the blank to this question: “This is a case about _________?” Once you fill in that blank you are on your way to developing a Tweet-like theme that will resonate with an audience accustomed to taking in information in small bites.

“For example this is a case about personal responsibility — and the plaintiff’s failure to accept it.” And that’s it for This and That.”

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