So we’re in court on a Domestic Violence Restraining Order. My client has testified in detail to the abuse he’s suffered from the Petitioner. The opposing lawyer is now cross examining him on a childhood injury he suffered with caused him to lose memories of his childhood. My client is now in his thirties.
The opposition lawyer then asks this question:
“When was the last time you remembered having a memory loss?”
Uh…
The opposition lawyer is a good guy and a good lawyer. He just stumbled into the thickets that all lawyers sometimes find themselves in: asking a stupid question.
Oh, I’ve done it. A lot of lawyers have done it.
One famous example is in a personal injury suit where the victim was on the stand. The questioning went this way:
“Were you injured?”
“Yes, I broke several bones and had a concussion.”
“Did you die?”
uh…
Another famous story concerned a wrongful death suit. It went like this:
Doctor: I took his brain from his cranium to do further examination.
Attorney: And did the patient die?
Doctor: Yes. He was not an attorney and so could not operate without a brain.
I can’t remember the stupid questions I’ve asked, probably because I’ve blocked them out after all these years. But I know I’ve done it because I remember feeling stupid after asking them.
No, lawyers are not the all-knowing, all-powerful gods the TV and the Movies make us out to be. We stumble. We fall. We ask stupid questions.
I showed the opposition lawyer in the DVRO his question and he smiled. Yeah, he knew he’d stumbled. No one beat him up for it. We just moved on.
BTW, I won the case, but not because of that question.
Mark Bruce, Writer 