Bob Clifford Speaks to Young Lawyers

Robert A. Clifford, senior partner at Clifford Law Offices, closed out a three-hour program and spoke to a group of lawyers on closing arguments at the Young Lawyers Section Trial Techniques Seminar at the Chicago Bar Association (CBA). Clifford, along with Colin Smith of Holland & Knight, William Spiro of Law Office of William B. Spiro, and the Hon. James Shapiro of the Cook County Circuit Court, spoke on the various elements of a trial to attorneys at the CBA as well as those watching on the web. Adam Sheppard of the Sheppard Law Firm of Chicago moderated the program. “Closing argument preparation starts at the beginning of the case,” Clifford told the group. “Facts matter.  You can be as golden tongued as you want to be but it doesn’t matter if you don’t know the facts. You must also have a command of the jury instructions.” Clifford went on to explain how he puts a “C” next to every point made during the trial or whenever he has a poignant point, even if it comes in the middle of the night, accumulating these thoughts to put in his closing argument, always ending on a pre-planned “high point.”