Quote:
Originally posted by Sidd Finch
This technique may not crossover from lit to corp very well, but recently I got that argument from opposing counsel, in front of a discovery referee, and responded "Of course, we all know that when a lawyer begins an argument with 'never in my xxx years of practice have I seen...', what he's really saying is 'I have absolutely no controlling, persuasive, or even relevant judicial or scholarly authority to support my position, so instead I will cite my own unverifiable personal experience.'"
Worked like a charm.
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All ways of short-circuiting variants on the "if you can't hit the substance hit the table" strategy.
It is a bit tetchier to deal with in corp, I think, because in corp-world there aren't really many "precendents" or "regs" or other substantive authorities to ultimately fall back on - you have nothing but your experience. Therefore, someone claiming contrary relevant experience tends to hit at everyone else's insecurities in their basic competence in a way that might be different from other areas of practice. It takes some backbone to say "so what?"