Reading the (Court)room

Litigation attorney Daniel Small published a column in Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly reflecting on the importance of "reading the room." He opens by recalling a case against a U.S. Customs Service agent accused of stealing and selling confidential information from the agency's computer system. His attorney, an experienced criminal defense lawyer, used his platform to rail against government – even at sentencing, when the typical strategy involves asking for leniency – which ultimately landed the agent with a lengthier time in prison through consecutive sentences. Dan then pivots back to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) corruption case discussed in prior articles for another example in which the defense counsels' choice to aggressively cross-examine the first witness, a "smart, soft-spoken and...boring" HUD auditor, teed Dan up to deliver his closing argument on redirect. A subsequent sidebar conference with the presiding judge revealed how badly the defense had read the room, as the judge rebuked the defense lawyers and ordered the group to start working on a plea deal. The column concludes by reiterating that attorneys need to read the room at trial: paying attention to the people around them, where the proceedings are going and more.

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