Using Bogus Defense Arguments to Your Advantage

It can be frustrating when the defense makes some argument that you know is total BS, but it is almost always a gift. Find ways to use the defense’s self-serving positions against them.

The area where 20 other people fell doesn’t have a single document discussing it? (Of course there usually is.) If there isn’t, then you were even more negligent and may tread into punitive damages territory.

You don’t have sweep logs for your grocery store because everybody is responsible for scanning the floor and looking for hazards at all times? Then what about the five employees that walked by this hazard and didn’t notice it before the plaintiff fell?

Work product objection for the incident report created the same day your client was injured, and is something they always create as a matter of policy? Then they had to have anticipated litigation right away so why didn’t they preserve the video footage or other evidence that got destroyed?

When the defense raises an argument you disagree with, your initial knee-jerk reaction can be to fight the position and run head-on into it. Instead, try turning it around and using it to your advantage.

There are almost always a variety of ways you can use the defense positions to your advantage. Think creatively about the defense arguments and go around them instead of trying to run through them.

What do you think? Join the conversation with me on LinkedIn.