Judges Can Read: Argue Without Your Notes!

• Author: Mark A. Drummond
• Pages: 28-29

Published in Litigation News Volume 47, Number 3, Spring 2022. © 2022 b y the American Bar Ass ociation. Reproduc ed with permission. A ll rights reserv ed. This information or an y portion there of may not be copied or dis seminated in any

form or by any means or sto red in an electronic da tabase or retrieval sy stem without the ex press writt en consent of the Amer ican Bar Associatio n.

By Hon. Mark A . Drummond (Ret.), Litigation News A ssociate Editor

hen you ask someone out for a date, do

you use notes? When someone criticizes

you, do you ask for time to jot a few things

down before responding? Of course you

don’t. I realize cases are more complex, but

great advocates can argue without every word being read off

a legal pad.

A recent article about Damian Williams, U.S. Attorney

for the Southern District of New York, sparked the idea for

this column. The author outlined Mr. Williams’s skill in the

courtroom and noted that he “became known as one of the

few prosecutors [in his ofce] who appeared before juries

Judges Can Read: Argue Without

Your Notes!

© Getty Image s

without notes.” The article detailed Mr. Williams’s delivery

of an opening statement “detailing the story of a powerful

politician who had become blinded by greed.” The author

observed, “Mr. Williams’s statement would run 22 pages in

the ofcial transcript. He used no notes.”

During the pandemic, I coached over 100 attorneys

through NITA. Remote advocacy has spawned more rote

reading. The notes are read directly off the screen. Even

worse are multiple monitors. With the side monitor, I get the

“mugshot” view, when down below I get the “drone” view,

and when above (the worst) I get the “up the nostrils” view.

This is not good for you or the judge. The judge is not the

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PRACTICE POINTS