Judicial economy and persuasion

Ernie the Attorney has an excellent post on the role judicial economy plays in persuasion.

I was at a CLE where trial legend Tom Girardi told us how he was able to obtain more than the usual 15 minutes for voir dire. (In California state court, judes rarely give the attorneys more than 15 minutes to conduct voir dire).

Mr. Girardi would say, "Your honor, if I do not know my jury, then I have to put on more evidence than I would if I knew the jury. I just can't tell what will appeal to certain jurors. But if you give me and defense counsel half-a-day to conduct voir dire, I promose you, as an officer of the court, that I will shave three days off trial time." (Emphasis in original).

More often than not, Mr. Girardi would get that half-day. [Of course, he had established credibility earned from years of practicing law. Thus, YMMV.]