Rule 1: Take Your Time

• Author: Daniel Small
• Profession: Is a partner in the Boston and Miami of ces of Holland & Knight LLP
• Pages: 65-69

If the old saying is true, that he who writes the rules wins the game, then the

rst rule for any witness is to take your time. This is the rule from which

all else ows. Follow this, and the rest will be much easier. There are no

shortcuts for a witness: The faster you try to go, the longer it will take; the

harder you try to move things along and “be helpful,” the more difcult it

will be. It’s all about multitasking and fairness.

Multitasking

As a witness, you cannot do everything that needs to be done to be effec-

tive, and also do it quickly: making sure you’ve heard the question clearly

and understand it fully, considering it carefully, and formulating a clear and

thoughtful answer. It’s too much. This is not an environment in which you can

think out loud, as we do all the time in our everyday lives. You have to care-

fully think through each step, and that can be done only if you take your time.

Fairness

Question, answer, question, answer. Like a volley in tennis, the faster it goes,

back and forth, the sooner someone will make a mistake. But in tennis,

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Chapter 14

Rule 1:

Take Your Time

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