Unleashing the Power of the Gerry Spence Method

The Foundation: It Begins With You

The Spence Method is the culmination of legendary trial attorney Gerry Spence's life's work. Through creativity, courage, and an unwavering dedication to understanding human connection, Gerry developed a method that transformed trial advocacy.

At its core, the Method begins with you. Before you can connect with a jury, you must first connect with yourself. Before you can tell your client's story, you must understand your own story and the universal truths that bind us together.

Working on the Horse: Discovering Emotional Truth

The Spence Method promotes personal exploration through psychodrama, often referred to as "working on the horse."

Using directing skills such as role reversal, doubling, chair back, soliloquy, empty chair, and magic mirror, trial lawyers learn to uncover deeper emotional truths and bring their cases to life. Through these exercises, attorneys develop a greater understanding of themselves, their clients, and the stories they are called to tell.

Gerry Spence pioneered the use of psychodrama directing techniques in trial work because he believed every person possesses a unique power that can be revealed through authentic human connection.

Finding the Theme

Every compelling case is built around a theme.

A theme embodies the central truth of your case and serves as both the starting point and anchor for the story you present to the jury. The Spence Method helps lawyers identify a clear and powerful theme that summarizes the story while expressing the ultimate truth they want the jury to understand.

Building the Tribe: Voir Dire

Before presenting a story of emotional truth, you must first select a jury that is receptive to your case.

The Spence Method's approach to Voir Dire focuses on building a tribe through authenticity, vulnerability, and genuine human connection. Lawyers learn to be present in the moment, reveal who they truly are, listen deeply, and openly discuss the "danger point" of their case.

Rather than persuading jurors, the goal is to create trust and identify those who can fairly receive the story that follows.

Opening Statement: Bringing the Story to Life

Once the jury is selected, the story begins.

The Spence Method teaches that by the conclusion of Voir Dire and Opening Statement, the jury often knows how it feels about the case. Opening Statement is not a recitation of facts—it is an opportunity to create vivid scenes that allow jurors to experience the story emotionally.

Lawyers learn to identify the villain, establish the trust relationship, expose the betrayal of trust, confront weaknesses in the case, and clarify what they ultimately seek from the jury. Through scene-setting and storytelling, the jury begins to live the case rather than simply hear about it.

Direct Examination: Creating Live Action

The Spence Method's Direct Examination is rooted in directing a story in the present tense.

Rather than asking witnesses to summarize events, attorneys learn to recreate moments so vividly that jurors experience the action as if it is unfolding before them. This approach transforms testimony from information into experience.

Cross-Examination: Telling Your Story Through the Witness

Cross-examination is more than challenging credibility.

The Spence Method teaches lawyers to tell their story through the opposing witness while testing the validity of the opposing narrative. Every question serves the larger story being presented to the jury, allowing the attorney to reinforce their case through the testimony of the other side.

Closing Argument: Closing the Deal

Closing Argument is not merely a summary of facts. It is the culmination of everything that has happened since the beginning of the trial.

When an attorney has been authentic, connected to the client, invested in the case, and fully present throughout the trial, caring becomes contagious. The jury begins to care as well.

At that point, the attorney has earned the right to be heard. The relationship has been built, the story has been told, and the case has already been won in the hearts and minds of the jury.