Alumni Impact
The Philadelphia Story: What advice do you give to beginning attorneys with regard to courtroom skills, demeanor, or tactics? Be yourself, first and foremost. Many young attorneys try to copy another lawyer’s style, demeanor, etc., which usually doesn’t work. The most effective attorneys act in a manner most natural to them, which usually comes across with sincerity. Are there any particular courtroom moments that stand out in your mind as career highlights or as something that you will just never forget? I was trying a high profile case in Puerto Rico. I got my adversary’s expert on crossexamination to admit his theory “didn’t fit,” but lost the case anyway. A valuable lesson. It taught me that juries look at the big picture—not just an isolated courtroom battle. What do you think it means these days to be a “Philadelphia attorney?” Tough, aggressive, but at all times, scrupulous and trustworthy.
BERNARD W. SMALLEY ’80
concentrates his practice in the areas of medical negligence, pharmaceutical liability, defamation, class actions, products liability, and other personal injury matters from the plaintiff’s side. A shareholder at Anapol Schwartz, Smalley’s extensive trial experience has earned him a place as a fellow in both the International Academy of Trial Lawyers and the American College of Trial Lawyers. He sits on the Board of Governors of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America and has served as president of the Philadelphia Trial Lawyers Association. What do you love about being in the courtroom? The absolute electricity that comes with cross-examination of the target defendant. It brings together the knowledge that you’ve acquired based upon your preparation as well as the agility of mind that is required when the answers to your questions come back not quite as you anticipated. What, for you, is the most difficult part of trying a case? Before the trial, it is the arduous and painstaking preparation to try the case by making sure that you have left no stone unturned. Afterwards, it is waiting for the verdict.
What advice do you give to beginning attorneys with regard to courtroom skills, demeanor, or tactics? Observe the good, the bad, and the “downright” ugly from everyone but develop your own style, one that you are comfortable with. Your style, however, must include both inwardly and outwardly the fact that you are in control. Are there any particular courtroom moments that stand out in your mind as career highlights or as something that you will just never forget? The first case that I tried to verdict as a new associate in my current firm was one in which I was up against one of my mentors. After a two-week trial, I got a chance to respond on rebuttal to my mentor’s closing argument that his medical expert simply could not have misrepresented the truth given his extensive training, experience, and his eighty-five page resume; I reminded the jury on rebuttal that our former President, Richard M. Nixon, probably had a resume just as extensive, and we all know what he did. It was a spontaneous remark, but it helped to carry the day. The jury returned a substantial verdict for my client.