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In this same village, there was a young boy who was a bit of a troublemaker. One day, when there was a crowd gath- ered around the rabbi, the boy decided he would embarrass the old man. He ran home to retrieve a small bird he had caught earlier. Returning to the crowd, he held the bird cupped in his hands, and yelled over the crowd, “Old man, I have a bird in my hand. My question to you is simple: Is the bird dead or alive?” Just then the rabbi heard a small chirp com- ing from the boy’s hands, and he knew the bird was alive. But he also knew that if he gave that answer, the boy would squeeze his fists together and crush the life from the bird. On the other hand, if he said that the bird was dead, the boy would open his hands and allow the bird to fly away. The rabbi was concerned about the message such a “victory” would give to the boy, and so he said nothing. The boy grew impatient and yelled, “Come on old man! Is it dead or is it alive?!” The old rabbi looked deep into the boy’s eyes and quietly said, “The


answer to that question, my son, is in your hands.” Members of the jury, Mr. A, Ms. B, Mrs.


C ..., that bird represents justice for Bobby Harris. I ask you to open your hands, to allow Bobby the light, the justice and the dignity that he so desperately needs, and that he so rightly deserves.


Conclusion We pride ourselves on being profes-


sional wordsmiths. Yet, when all is said and done, at the moment one delivers the summation, one realizes the limita- tions of words. In the end, our power as advocates comes not from the actual words we use, but from the genuine hu- man thoughts, emotions, and reactions that give rise to the words. That power can only be tapped if we are willing to acknowledge and celebrate that which makes us human. Ironically, it is only by having the courage to step out of our trial-lawyer personas that we deserve to be called “trial lawyers.” n


About the Author


Marcus Z. Shar, a partner in the Balti- more, Maryland law firm of Shar, Rosen & Warshaw, LLC. represents plaintiffs in medical malpractice cases throughout the United States. Listed in “The Best Lawyers in America”, Mr. Shar is a Fel- low of the prestigious American College of Trial Lawyers, and an associate of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA). In addition to being one of the first two lawyers in the nation to be named a Diplomat of the National College of Advocacy, he is a founding member of the national case strategy advisory group of Miller, Scoptur, Ves- per & Shar, and a founding member of the National Cooperative Association of Medical Malpractice Attorneys. Mr. Shar is a former member of the Mary- land State Committee of the American College of Trial Lawyers, a past co-chair of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America’s Curriculum Development Committee, and has served on both ATLA’s NCA Board of Trustees and the Maryland Trial Lawyers Association’s Board of Governors. An adjunct fac- ulty member, teaching Advanced Trial Advocacy at the University of Maryland School of Law; and the tort law lecturer for the Shemer Bar Review course, Mr. Shar is in the rare position of being a plaintiffs’ medical malpractice lawyer and also an Associate Clinical Professor at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, a position he has held for a number of years. The author of numerous articles on trial techniques, as well as several treatises on medical malpractice, he is frequently invited to lecture to lawyers, judges, law students, doctors and other professional and lay groups around the country. Mr. Shar wrote this in the third person to make it sound as though he is important enough for someone to bother to write a bio about him.


46


Trial Reporter


Spring 2008


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