When you’re a defendant in a legal action, you’re the underdog.  You stand accused.  No matter how much talk you’ve heard about being innocent until proven guilty, when you walk into that courtroom, you walk in under a cloud.

Even if it’s a civil case, the cloud is there.  The assumption is that one side has wronged the other – and that one side has in some way been less than forthcoming, less than truthful, less than good.

Ms. Scott understands that.  She knows how to turn the feeling around, so that when it’s time for you to face a jury or a judge, you can go into the courtroom with confidence, knowing you’re equipped to win. 

What qualities does a great attorney have? Ms. Scott’s answer:

“A great attorney is one who works hard for the client. A great attorney is intelligent and understands the law and its processes. Perhaps most of all, a great attorney needs to be persuasive. To be persuasive, you have to be likeable. People will not be persuaded by a person they hate. They can dislike you at times, but you have to be perceived as honest.”

“A jury has to see you as someone with integrity, someone they can trust. That means you have to actually be someone they can trust. It’s almost like you become the jury’s friend. To do that, you have to be yourself, and you have to genuinely believe in your client.” Then you work toward the light at the end of the tunnel, she says.

“You work to see justice served.”