Telling Your Client's Story with Allison Melendez of Simon Law Group

On today's episode of the Justice Team Podcast, Bob is joined by Allison Melendez of the Simon Law Group to discuss storytelling in court for your client, and how you can use small details to your advantage to getting a large payout. Preparation, starting early, and working together with your client to get the best possible outcome from even the most unlikely places. 

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Bob:

(00:01):
Welcome to this episode of The Justice Team Podcast on The Justice Team Network. And today, we have the host of another show on the Justice Team Network, Ladies of Law, Allison Melendez. Allison, thank you for coming on.
Allison:
Hi everyone. Thank you for having me.
Bob:
So Allison is a trial lawyer and she's going to talk to us today about how you're building damages and how you're doing that storytelling for your client, making them the protagonist of your story, the person that the jury wants to root for, finding that hook, so you can have a massive general damages compensation award, right?
Allison:
Yes. I mean, it starts early, right? So, I think not just... You're not doing this the day of trial. Definitely not.
Bob:
Yeah. I know some lawyers that are like, "Well, when did you meet your clients?" "Well, I just walked into the courtroom that day." It like, "Are you insane?" So walk some of the listeners and viewers through how that starts early for you and how you're building that damages story early.
Allison:
I think as soon as you sign up a case, that initial call. So the first thing that you want to do is build rapport with your client. If they're comfortable and they feel like they can come to you with whatever issue, and sometimes it's not even case related, if they can just come to you, then they feel a little bit more comfortable telling you very personal things that maybe wouldn't come out when you're just going through a normal discovery thing, outline. And so, what I like to do is when I first introduce myself, obviously I give them an overview of the litigation process, but then I also just tell them, "Look, if there's anything I can help you with, even if it's outside my expertise, I know other attorneys, I have other friends that work in the law, please feel comfortable coming to me and just keep the lines of communication open."
Bob:
Yeah. And a lot of people lose sight of having other people talk to your clients on your behalf, etc. I think it's very powerful not only for having the best bedside manner as a lawyer, as being able to talk to them. And I think that, in today's day and world with technology especially, can free up some of those menial tasks so you can spend more time with your clients, right? Because that's how you are able to better advocate for them because you know them better.
Allison:
Yeah. I just had lunch with a client and we didn't talk about his case at all. It was just tell me how you're doing, tell me about your life, what's going on in your life? How are your kids doing? And just having that one-on-one connection, I think sometimes with Zoom you miss out on those opportunities because with the Zoom, it's like you're talking to a screen and so you don't hear those pauses or maybe you don't see their demeanor as much. And so, I like to do both. I like to have the Zoom meetings for when it's something I can just a quick update on your case or maybe we need to look at a document, but also just let's take time outside of our busy schedules and just have lunch.
Bob:
Yeah. And the other thing is we're going to talk about how important home visits are, what we do with them during discovery and how you're able to turn... You've done a few trials that the client wasn't very likable at all, but you were still able to have a massive general damages award, and how you were able to create that story from somebody at first glance or second glance or third glance wasn't somebody you thought would be happy to be able to fight for. So let's first talk about the home visit.
Allison:
Yeah.
Bob:
Why do you do home visits for the clients and what are you looking for?

(00:22):
Allison:
So, the home visit is to... Well, the first purpose is to gather photos that maybe we want to use at trial and blow up on the screen. Is this person a family man? Is this person, do they volunteer with their church? Do they have some sort of hook that maybe a juror sitting in the juror box is like, "Wow, I can relate with that." And just humanizing the person because I think oftentimes, especially when you have the experts testifying first, it's so black and white. It's like, these are the injuries, these are the damages. But that story piece is so critical and I think that's where you get those bigger verdicts. It's from pulling information out of your client that they might not think is even relevant to their case, and just finding that hook.
Bob:
And that hook. And it's the same thing I use it all the time, is finding that hook. And I think it's very important to do the home visit because we ask your client during the discovery process, "Hey, who are some people that can tell your story for you? And can you give some photographs of what you were like before and after?" It's never what we actually use at trial.
Allison:
Nope. Or they'll send you something that's like, "Oh, yeah, I have difficulty biking. I can't bike as much anymore." But then you find out that they volunteer at their church and they do all this other stuff and they're like, "Oh, yeah, I didn't even think to bring that up." And you're like, "That is very critical."
Bob:
And I always just go into their home and snoop around, and what are you doing while you're there during the home visit? What are you doing?
Allison:
So I tell them, "I don't even want to talk about your case. I'm just going to ask you a bunch of questions, stories. So for example, how did you meet your spouse?" I'll walk around their living room. "Can you tell me about this photo?" "Oh, you served in the Army. Great. Can you tell me why you decided to go into the army?" And sometimes it's pulling information all the way back, and maybe you don't even use it at trial, but just hearing their story and trying to understand, okay, how has this impacted you from even just an emotional perspective, hearing them talk about like, "Yeah, I used to garden every day and now, every morning I have breakfast on my porch and I used to be able to garden, but now I have too much pain or I can't do it as much as I want to." So really pulling that information and not just asking them, but looking around their home, like you said, snooping around.
Bob:
And taking photos. Have your camera phone ready to go and take photos of maybe what their bathroom situation looks like because they need to have handles or their garden that used to be this beautiful thing and now it's barren and the tools are rusted or have cobwebs. Those are powerful photos.
Allison:
Oh yeah, the garage.
Bob:
Garage.
Allison:
Yeah. The garage is something that you wouldn't... Typically, you wouldn't have your guests go into your garage, but I'll just go into their garage. I'll just sneak around, see what I can find.
Bob:
Yeah. I remember one trial and we had a white surfer guy, very affluent down at Newport Beach and trying to find that hook. We were in his garage and he just had these surfboards that had dust on them. And he had this old TV where he would just watch surf videos and his wife would tell the story about this poor guy. This is like, you don't go to surf trips on [inaudible 00:06:06]. But that was like, I'm not an avid surfer like he is, but that was his thing and we made it so real for the jury through imagery that they gave a lot of money to him.
Allison:

(00:43):
Yeah. No, yeah.
Bob:
And it was all because of stuff like that.
Allison:
And it's the little things, too. It doesn't have to be this amazing story. I think sometimes people think you need to find this like, he used to be a member of the church and-
Bob:
He rescued babies and puppies for burning fire.
Allison:
No, and it's not. It's all the little minutiae details. So for example, if you have a client that loves to write and now she has a TBI and she can't do that anymore, because she has difficulties because she can't concentrate. All those little things are so important. I walked into this client's house one time, and every corner of her apartment was covered in books, and we pulled that photo up in the trial and it was powerful. Like, this is someone who's very passionate about her work and writing is not just a pastime. She's very passionate about it. You can tell by all the books she reads. And I thought that was very powerful.
Bob:
I remember when you guys were pulling the story out about she's very much an introvert. She lives at home, she doesn't have a lot of friends. And that was the story. I mean, they took away the thing that she loved the most. By the way, got a multimillion dollar verdict on that case and paid. A lot of people advertise these verdicts, like billboard verdicts or they don't collect on, got paid.
Allison:
Yeah, we did. And I think for her, it was a little tricky. We did a couple of at-home visits with her, because typically you're calling the spouse or a close friend. She was very introverted, but she was very creative and she was very intelligent. And so, I think that helped counter this story that the defendants are making that she's whiny or she's making this up. And it was like, no, this is a very intelligent woman who put herself through undergrad, grad school, very just driven person and loves to write and had this dream of being a screenwriter at some point and would do that on the side, but it never came to fruition. And now it's even further for her to try to achieve because she's got all these TBI issues going on.
Bob:
Yeah. And I think it's important for viewers and listeners to know, this should happen early before you answer discovery, in my opinion, because you need to know the story. You have to be able to produce all of these photos, damages, witnesses, people that can help tell the story of your client and show the other side you're ready to go. And not only that, but you've had spent so much time with your client that maybe they forgot about a prior injury that they had because you spent a lot of time with them and they're not getting their case torpedoed by something because you didn't spend time with them.
Allison:
Oh, yeah. I used to work on the defense and when I worked on the defense and I would go into a depo and they would produce general damages photos before the deposition. I was like, "Wow, I have so much I can ask." And I would remember that file. That file would stick out on top of all the other ones that you're working on. I would remember that one. And so, when we would get into mediation and the case would progress, it was constantly in my mind like, "Oh, yeah, I remember that one. That's the one where he liked surfboards," or whatever the specific thing is. But I definitely think it helps if you produce early, but at least right before mediation. I think mediation is huge.
Bob:
Yeah. As long as they're well before trial so the other side can't say they never got them. Practice point, don't do it, wait last minute, because they might not be able to use it because we never got the opportunity to interview these damages, witnesses and stuff like that. But a lot of times they'll tell you people that are important, that they think important to their life, but I always explore beyond that.
Allison:
Oh, yeah.

(01:04):
Bob:
Right. You could find the casual person they see every Monday for coffee or the employer's assistant that sees them in pain the most. Right? These are the casual encounters that have more credibility because they have nothing to gain through their testimony.
Allison:
Oh, yeah. I think recently we had a case settle and never would've thought of this on my own, but the client had mentioned that... So she worked at this office and every day she would pass the office right next door. And she's like, "They've actually... I don't know them very well, but I think they have knowledge of the slip and fall." So we've hired an investigator, tracked down the owner, and sure enough, they had very critical information to the case and the case ended up settling because of the testimony of that business owner.
Bob:
So, practice point out there, take the home visits, get to know your client, spend a lot of time with them. You don't have to produce all this stuff. I mean, you might not ever use it in trial, but again, it's ammo that you may use. It also helps get your cases resolved. All right, so let's go into the last phase of our conversation here, and that's how to turn a client that's not so likable into somebody that the jury's rooting for.
Allison:
Yeah, I think one important thing is there's always a hook. And I used to be a journalism major, and so that's, when I go into a home visit, I focus in on. What's the story here? Everyone's got some sort of story and something that people can relate with, and so, it's your job to go and find it, and maybe you don't find it on the first home visit, so have a second home visit. Talk to the people that are closest to your client and really help your client give you that information by making sure you explore all avenues. And so, I think it's tricky. There's some clients that will... They're very talkative and they'll tell you all these things. There's some that are just very quiet and it's like pulling teeth, but that's why you have to do it so early on so that you can start framing that story and it's your job to advocate for them, so find that hook.
Bob:
Yeah, that hook. So I always challenge people to tell... Can you tell the plaintiff's story if they never testify, can you do it? Can you call people that are around them, that use the images and the stuff that they see? So the jury feels like they know them and are rooting for them, especially... I've had clients that are very not likable or I didn't find the hook, or maybe the jury might, or ones that had a lot of felonies they didn't disclose. So I had to try to bury it, had a trial or two where I didn't actually call the plaintiff because I knew they were going to get impeached so hard, so I told the story with a lot of other folks, but you got to have that ready to go.
Allison:
Yeah.
Bob:
You got to find that hook. And sometimes that hook's not given to you, and it's by snooping around their home.
Allison:
Yeah, or talking to their friends.
Bob:
Talking to their friends. And that's, Google... I think another thing is Google your client. Google and-
Allison:
Stock all their social media.
Bob:

(01:25):
Stock, all their... Yeah, that's good because a lot of people don't do that. I just pull a lot of damages photos just from their social media or their friend's social media.
Allison:
Yeah. Oh, that's huge. I had a client that forgot to mention that he always babysits one of his neighbor's kids. And I was like, "That's huge." And he's like, "Just didn't occur to me." And sure enough, he was tagged in something and I was like, "Who's that?" He babysits her kids. And I was like, "Okay."
Bob:
Yeah. So you get set them as one of your favorites on Instagram, see all their photos, but always go to the photos that other people tag them in. Then you see who's in their circle.
Allison:
Yeah.
Bob:
That's a good tip.
Allison:
It is. I always stalk and then I'm like, "Okay, do we need to do damage control?"
Bob:
Yeah. Some of it's not so good. But yeah, if you can find a lot of hook.... Because people are posting photos generally about stuff that they love to do, and if that was taken from their harm, that's a good way to see, because I go to the older photos and you can kind of see, kind of get that story going.
Allison:
And then, I mean, you know for a fact, defense is pulling all their social media as well if it's public. So, you have to do it as well and be prepared.
Bob:
Yeah, pull it all. And especially if you're in trial and they try to take out those five good moments your client had in the past five years on social media and be ready with the 120 really bad moments. The other attorney didn't show you these on social media. So let's go through all of these ones, right?
Allison:
Yeah.
Bob:
Oh, man. Well, Allison, thanks for coming on. Can you tell us a little bit about your show for those that are watching and listening?

(01:46):
Allison:
Yeah. So we created this show called Ladies in the Law with Michaela Fluger, soon to be Dixon. And we just wanted to make it... We want to make the law accessible and digestible for people. So, oftentimes with these shows, a lot of acronyms are thrown out, or if you're a younger attorney that's barely starting off, maybe you don't know how to do certain things like discovery, and so we want to break out and really go through these little things in detail. And so, we'll be covering all kinds of topics in litigation and pre litigation as well.
Bob:
So a lot of really practical stuff.
Allison:
Practical things, little tips. And then also just we want to create a safe space for people to ask us questions so we can create additional content and put stuff out there for people.
Bob:
I love it. I love it. Well, Allison, thanks for coming on this episode of The Justice Team Podcast on the Justice Team Network. You can find her show under Justteamnetwork.com or on the YouTube channel or on our Apple PlayStation or PlayStation?
Allison:
PlayStation.
Bob:
Yeah, I don't know. It's a PlayStation? Yeah, I think it's a Sega Genesis. Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis. That was old. Biggie Smalls. Thanks for coming on. Thanks for coming on.