Make It Easy for the Judge
Over the years I have had the opportunity to sit many times as an arbitrator in all kinds of cases. If you get the opportunity to do the same I would highly recommend it. It gives you a tremendous insight into what judges experience when they are hearing and subsequently deciding a case.
The best thing I have taken away from that experience is this concept: “Make it easy for the judge.” The judge after all has a job to do. Whether he or she is deciding evidentiary motions during a jury trial or deciding the facts in a bench trial, the judge is engaged in mental effort. The easier you can make it for the judge the more likely you are to receive favorable rulings and judgments. Judges are human and humans, for the most part, will look for ways to make their jobs easier. Make sure you are the one that provides the easiest way.
Here is one example. In your memorandum supporting your motion or in your trial memorandum in a bench trial, try working into the memorandum the draft of the court’s ruling that you want supported with reasons. For instance, in a bench trial try concluding your memorandum with something along these lines:
After hearing the evidence in this case the Plaintiff believes that the court should make the following findings of fact:
1. Fact one ….. The court should so find because …
2. Fact two …. The court should so find because …
And should make the following conclusions of law:
1. Conclusion one…This conclusion is based on …
2. Conclusion two …This conclusion is based on ….
Now the court may or may not rule in your favor but you will have gone a long way towards defining the court’s focus in the case and hopefully leading the court your way. You can imagine that your “findings of fact” will in fact become the judges check list as she or he decides the case.
