He stands in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, gazing straight ahead, never glancing down -- all the while reciting from an outline in his head.
Suffering from dyslexia, David Boies -- the pre-eminent trial lawyer who served as special counsel for the Department of Justice in the antitrust suit against Microsoft and lead counsel for former Vice President Gore during the 2000 election -- could not read until the third grade and still doesn't feel comfortable using the skill.
Now, he uses the obstacle to his advantage. With no notes, he is in constant eye contact with jurors, judges and just about everyone else in the courtroom.
Last night, Boies brought his showmanship to the Annenberg Center, where he delivered the Irving R. Segal Lectureship in Trial Advocacy.
"Boies is among the best and brightest in our profession," said Jerome J. Shestack, the former National Chairman of the American Bar Association from 1997-1998 who is now the Chairman of the Litigation Department at Wolf, Block, Schorr and Solis-Cohen, a Philadelphia law firm.
According to Boies, Microsoft lost the case because the company's lawyers kept changing their themes and could not sustain those they came up with -- a consequence of their flawed diagnosis.
But he said that the Bush v. Gore case in Florida's Supreme Court, which lasted only 30 days, represents the essence of trial advocacy -- finding out, analyzing, molding and presenting facts efficiently.
He also stressed that diagnosis is the first and most important step for trial lawyers.
"You need themes you believe will be sustainable that you can fight even if the other team does its job," Boies said.
Paul Verkuil, University President Judith Rodin's husband and a visiting Penn Law professor who co-authored a book with Boies, brought the lawyer to Penn. Verkuil was formerly the dean of Benjamin Cardozo Law School of Yeshiva University.
He introduced Boies as a "classic risk-taker and compassionate person who is willing to take lost causes because of his love for the courtroom and the legal profession."
Boies said that in order for a lawyer to be a successful trial advocate, he must understand the facts that do and do not support the case at hand, and must be flexible and willing to discard themes that do not work.
Law School Dean Michael Fitts said that the take-home message from Boies's lecture is that trial lawyers should "always be prepared and think of the significance of the facts and how they might be perceived positively and negatively."
The talk was part of the Law School's annual lecture series -- featuring supreme and appellate court justices, solicitors general and some of the most distinguished legal minds in the United States, including Kenneth Starr.
