13 SECRETS FOR PRESENTING YOUR CASE TO A GOVERNMENT TRIBUNAL, BOARD OR LEGISLATIVE BODY

By Fred Reilly, American Attorney and English Solicitor

During my career, I’ve served as an administrative hearing officer, legal counsel to municipal boards, municipal attorney and counsel to clients appearing before government tribunals, boards and legislative bodies. This article chronicles some of my presentation strategies honed over the past twenty years.

1. Understand the decision-making process. For most inexperienced people who appear before a tribunal, board or legislative body, the decision-making process is a blur. Before they know what just happened, their case has been decided and the next case is called. Your objective in presenting your case is either to present a viable solution to a problem or request specific relief. To be effective, you must understand how the tribunal, board or legislative body will make the decision in your case. Who makes the decisions? What is the decision-making process? How have similar cases been handled in the past? Is your case new, novel or controversial?
2. Dress in an appropriate manner. Respect the authority and decorum of the proceeding by dressing in an appropriate manner. If you mean business, dress like you mean business. I recommend that you avoid flashy, loud or controversial clothing – anything that could conceivably detract from the important message that you want to deliver.
3. Deliver a comprehensive presentation. Create a presentation that will inform the decision-maker(s), apply the applicable standards to the facts of your case and will logically lead to the compelling resolution you desire. Rather than discuss the advantages and disadvantages of handouts, visual aids, expert witnesses, advocacy, etc., let me simply recommend that you strive for clarity. I like to say that “I have a simple story to tell” and then tell it.
4. Present a written document? It is far beyond the scope of this article to address the format or content of a written document to be presented to the decision-maker(s). I will make two points. First, ensure that any document is consistent with your presentation strategy. People always have a knack for identifying inconsistencies and exploiting them. Second, be careful about how you distribute a written document to a tribunal, board or legislative body. Avoid giving your adversary any advantage by releasing the document too soon. Don’t allow the decision-maker(s) to lose focus on your presentation because they’re busy trying to read the document.
5. Have complete command of the standards. In making its decision, the tribunal, board or legislative body must apply a set a standards to the merits of the case. These standards are the laws or regulations applicable to your case. I highly recommend that you obtain a copy of the standards and fully understand how they will be applied. An advocate who doesn’t understand the applicable laws or regulations in his case is at the mercy of his adversary who likely deals with these same standards on a daily basis.
6. Follow the procedure. Every tribunal, board and legislative body has a set of procedural rules that govern how a case should be presented. The procedural rules are in place to ensure orderly proceedings, due process of law and just decisions. The rules can very from informal (administrative board) to very formal (judicial proceeding). Obtain a copy of the procedural rules before you begin to formulate your presentation. In addition, if you’ve never witnessed a case being presented, I highly recommend that you observe the presentation of several cases long before you ever present your own. Do not rely on Boston Legal, The Judge Judy Show or the televised Anna Nicole Smith proceedings for any pointers on how to present your case. Following these examples is one of the fastest ways to ensure that your case will be rejected.
7. Be diplomatic. There are times when you must play hardball, but not all the time. I recommend that you be diplomatic whenever possible. If you always adopt a “take no prisoners” attitude, you run the distinct risk of alienating the decision-maker(s).
8. Address the merits of your case and avoid personality issues. The body of your presentation should focus on the merits of your case. I purposely refrain from injecting personalities into the process in most circumstances. Instead of indicting individuals involved with the problem or the decision-maker(s), pay attention to how the standards apply to the facts of your case.
9. Present evidence for your position. I realize that this point is obvious, but I’ve personally witnessed many advocates who failed present any tangible evidence that supported their position. Usually, they didn’t understand either the applicable standards or the procedure. There’s an old adage among litigators – “you’ve got to give the judge something to hang his hat on.”
10. Acknowledge your weaknesses. The fastest way to undermine your own credibility is to assert that your position is 1,000 percent correct and your adversary is 1,000 incorrect. Inexperienced advocates constantly attempt this ruse. It never works because any seasoned decision-maker has seen this maneuver countless times. The decision-maker recognizes that each party’s case will likely have both pros and cons. If you fail to acknowledge your weaknesses, you empower your adversary to point them out with impunity and imply (or claim) that you have not been honest with the decision-maker. Rather than allowing yourself to be in this precarious position, I highly recommend that you acknowledge the weaknesses of your case and provide a rationale explanation for each. At the least, you remove your adversary’s ability to assert dishonesty.
11. Anticipate gray areas. Unless you’ve missed an obvious or fundamental point, there’s little shame is admitting that you don’t have all the answers. Gray areas exist. Anticipate them whenever possible and formulate an appropriate response in advance.
12. Don’t go on tangents. The decision-making process is always challenging. Do not make it more difficult by embarking on a tangent that distracts the decision-maker(s) from the merits of your case and the resolution that you seek. Similarly, don’t allow your adversary or anyone else to highjack the debate or cloud the relevant issues in your case. Successful advocacy requires focus and discipline.
13. Present a viable solution or request specific relief. It is shocking how often people completely bungle this point. Most people don’t know how to ask, so they effectively defer to the judgment (or mercy) of the decision-maker to make the decision. If your presentation is well structured, the merits of your case will lead to a logical outcome. At the strategic phase of this process, determine your desired outcome and then work backwards to build logical steps for achieving it. Strive for logic and consistency. If you’re presenting a solution to a problem, make it rationale – explain why your solution addresses the most important issues relevant to the problem. If you are seeking relief (i.e., reduction of an administrative fine), request specific relief such as asking the tribunal to “reduce the lien from $_____ to $____ provided that you pay the fine within ___ days.” Above all, this is the time to advocate in a compelling manner.
14. Ask your questions. Always offer the opportunity to clarify any points that may help the decision-maker(s) reach a sound conclusion.

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© Copyright 2007 by Fred Reilly. All rights reserved.