Tell the Client's Story

Mitigation in Criminal and Death Penalty Cases

Tell the Client's Story provides litigation teams the best strategies for effective mitigation work in criminal and capital cases. Top mitigation experts from across the nation with demonstrated practice wisdom will help readers to successfully litigate complex criminal cases. The book also utilizes significant legal, social science, and behavioral science research findings that will inform practitioners on multi-disciplinary approaches to crafting courtroom strategy. Using practical case studies, surveys, checklists, and appendices that are grounded in multi-professional scientific and clinical literatures, this book will give readers approaches to cogently and persuasively present mitigation evidence to decision makers. In addition to understanding the law and ethics of mitigation, you will learn how to:

Develop consistent arguments for life imprisonment-- rather than death-- and mitigated sentences in other criminal cases through effective storytelling and theme-building;

Build productive relationships with clients, witnesses, and experts;

Utilize the Capital Jury Project's empirical findings for successful jury selection and persuasion;

Develop robust case theories;

Collect and organize information crucial for compelling mitigation;

Create a winning mitigation team and employ the cutting-edge methodology of structured case review;

Proactively manage media coverage for positive mitigation outcomes, and

Effectively present mitigation evidence at pretrial, voir dire, and penalty phases.

This book will benefit seasoned defense professionals, while also providing crucial guidance for attorneys and other professionals with limited or no experience in mitigation techniques.