Any attorney worth their salt must be very good at winning arguments and persuading people that they are right, but there are some people who are simply better at it than others. An attorney friend of mine is probably the best person that I know in this regard and Eric Wetlaufer has been someone who I have admired for this for many years. I first met Eric whilst he was representing Fidelity investments where he was able to completely destroy his opponent and win the case, I must be frank and say that I had never seen such a convincing win in the courtroom. I was incredibly happy a month later to have received an email from Eric asking me to go and work for him and given his performance in court, I could hardly have declined the chance. Over the years I have watched him repeat these feats over and over again and here is how he is able to win arguments.
All Angles
In preparation for his court case, or any other event which requires him to be persuasive, Eric not only invests time thinking about his own arguments, but also the arguments which other people will have. In doing this he is able to perfectly prepare for how the other person will attack and of course he will already have planned a rebuttal. I honestly believe that Eric could argue and win both sides of just about any argument, such is the way that he looks upon the debate.
Relative
I can remember during that Fidelity case that they were discussing huge amounts of money which was almost lost on the men and women of the jury. Brilliantly Eric was able to speak about these huge sums as though they were household bills which enabled the jury to feel more inclusive and gave them something which they could relate to. When you make something that seems so irrelevant, suddenly become relevant to you, it causes a chunk of weakness in your armor and it is at that point that you are able to convince someone that you are right. This is what I have seen Eric do time and time again and as soon as he makes things personal, you know that the victory lap is just around the corner.
Complacency
Another great tactic which Eric often uses is to let the opposition believe that they are wining the debate. In some respects you could say that he gives up several battles but always knows that he will be victorious when the war is over. The way in which Eric is able to do this is to concede a certain amount of points, perhaps decline the chance to go back over something and even use body language to make it look as though things aren’t going well. Once the opposition believes that they are in the lead most will get a little complacent and they won’t see the big knockout punches which Eric will then land on his opponent. It takes a great deal of skill to do this but when it you learn how to go about it, you can count on having a very effective tool in your arsenal.
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