Mastering the Courtroom and Beyond | Episode 77

 Craig A. Thompson is a partner at Venable LLP and a nationally recognized trial attorney known for his commanding courtroom presence and distinguished service across law, politics, and public leadership. In this IMS Insights Podcast episode, he joins IMS Senior Jury Consulting Advisor Chris Dominic for a compelling conversation on strategic advocacy in high-stakes litigation. Craig shares candid lessons from his decades-long career, including: 

• What it takes to succeed in complex jury trials 
• How leadership outside the courtroom sharpens legal strategy 
• Proven techniques for connecting with jurors under pressure 
• Defining moments that shaped his legal and public service journey 

Whether preparing for trial or looking to elevate your leadership approach, this discussion delivers real-world insights from one of the litigation industry's most respected voices. 

Watch the recorded conversation on LinkedIn and follow us for future livestreams: @IMSLegalStrategies. 

Read about Craig’s background: https://www.venable.com/professionals/t/craig-a-thompson 

Meet our host, Chris Dominic: https://imslegal.com/team/chris-dominic  

Explore our litigation consulting services: https://imslegal.com/services/litigation-consulting  

Contact IMS today: https://imslegal.com/contact 

IMS has delivered strategic litigation consulting and expert witness services to leading global law firms and Fortune 500 companies for more than 30 years, in more than 45,000 cases. IMS consultants become an extension of your legal team from pre-suit investigation services to discovery and then on to arbitration and trial. Learn more at imslegal.com.

Transcript

Adam Bloomberg (Intro): Welcome to the IMS Insights Podcast, where the nation’s leading experts in litigation trends share their insights.   

I'm excited to introduce a discussion between our very own Chris Dominic and trial lawyer Craig Thompson. 

Now, some trial lawyers win cases. Others shape the future. Craig Thompson does both and then some. As a partner at Venable in Baltimore, he's earned a reputation for masterful courtroom advocacy, delivering high-stakes victories that leave a lasting impact. But Craig's influence doesn't stop at the courthouse doors. He's been the president of the International Association of Defense Counsel, the campaign chair for Governor Wes Moore of Maryland, and now leads the Maryland Stadium Authority. Few people move so seamlessly between law, politics, and public service. So today we're pulling back the curtain on Craig's unique path, his philosophy on advocacy, and what drives him to succeed at the highest levels. Chris, handing it over to you. 

Chris Dominic: Thanks, Adam. Craig, good to see you. 

Craig Thompson: Great to see you, Chris. 

Chris Dominic: Hey, as we just heard, you've held all these positions of leadership basically in law, politics, public service. How do those experiences come together to inform the way you communicate, persuade in basically all of the different modes you're in? 

Craig Thompson: I think it boils down to having a sense of purpose, whether it's in the practice of law or public service, community service, civic engagement, or with my family. The idea that you're doing something with a purpose and that you believe in serves as your why. That serves as the foundation for everything. So when it comes to advocacy trial work, once I establish with a client, with colleagues, that sense of purpose and why, that fuels everything. 

Chris Dominic: Yeah. The drive. 

Craig Thompson: The drive, yeah. 

Chris Dominic: So something I've always wanted to ask you from the work we've done together, we'll be doing something strategically. One of the things I've always noticed about you is what a strategic approach you have. We'll be doing something that's got to be done. We'll be going through the strategic process. It'll be us and a bunch of attorneys all working together. And we'll adjourn after talking about things like, all right, what values are we driving to motivate jurors? And how are we making sure to maintain our credibility? How can we be the most credible team in the room? And people walk out and I'll be getting my notes and I'll look out and, oh, and you're sitting right there and you're ready to ask some more questions. 

Craig Thompson: Yeah. 

Chris Dominic: And I've always thought whether it's framing or any of these more communication nerd issues, you always want to know more. Tell me a little more about what's going on. 

Craig Thompson: I think I may have told you this before, Chris, but I'm still searching for the doctor who split us up at birth because we're definitely twins and we were separated at some point. So I'm hoping to find that doctor and let them know how upset I am. But I do find how similar we are in our thinking and how we nerd out on certain things together. The concept of framing, storytelling, positioning is huge and part of my approach to trial work. When you raise the concept of framing and compared it to political campaigns, for example, we even talked about certain political consultants. That's something that struck me because in trial, just like in storytelling, it's not necessarily what you say, but how you say it. And so that concept of framing is very important. You go into the grocery store and you see beef or pork or some kind of meat and two packages, one says 80% lean, the other says 20% fat. Same outcome, but messaged differently. Which one do you choose? And that's just the object of framing for me, because it's trial lawyers. It's really about the evidence, how it's presented and what the message is that you want received. And so that's been part of my practice for years. And then when I found someone who was simpatico with that, you as a consultant, it was like, that's my guy. 

Chris Dominic: Yeah, yeah, that by the way, I love that example. That's such a good one. You and I have talked a little baseball every time and we've talked about the difference between elite ball players and great ball players like what is the OR good ball players? What do you think of the characteristics of an elite trial lawyer compared to say a very good trial lawyer? 

Craig Thompson: It's a great question. My initial reaction is, and my thinking is in movies, storytelling, books, things like that. So my visceral reaction to that question makes me think of The Wizard of Oz. Bear with me because each of us have the three qualities of a brain, heart, and courage. We all have that. All trial lawyers have that brain. We're all smart. Courage. We have to kind of overcome obstacles to get where we want to go. And heart, passion. I think what separates the good from the great to the elite is the extent to which you lean in on those three traits. So the great ones, the elite ones, they show a bit more courage. They go the extra mile, they go there a bit more passion and connection to the issues that they're facing, connection with their clients, connection with the jury. And then of course, the idea of having a brain and being intelligent and relying on your smarts, your instincts. And so I think that all of us have those basic traits, but what separates the good from the great from the elite are the extent to which you lean in on those inherent traits. 

Chris Dominic: The Craig Thompson Wizard of Oz leadership. Love it. 

Craig Thompson: Yeah. And it's really kind of cool that you use go behind the curtain in the intro. We didn't practice that. 

Chris Dominic: That's true. So, OK, we've worked on some long trials together. And one of the things I've noticed over the years in my practice is just how attention span has changed. Right. And you and I have talked about this. What are you doing these days to try and compensate for the fact that the unnatural communication environment of a trial can be really challenging the jurors in terms of attention span, memory retention, all that stuff. 

Craig Thompson: There's a great book called Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath. I believe that's the last name. Great book. And it talks about the importance of messaging that sticks using storytelling, analogies, metaphors, alliteration, words, things that will continue to stay in the juror's mind and the fact finder's mind. And so I think that's how I do it and that's how I talk to other lawyers and colleagues. I want to make sure that we're telling stories that stick. So when we are working with our witnesses, we may use some analogies that have been used in opening or that they're familiar with that might stick so that there's an anchoring that takes place. So you have a basic message, a basic story and every part of that story, every teller, if you will, of the story comes back to that anchor and that theme and it then it sparks something in the fact-finding. They say, oh, I've heard this before. Let me pay attention as opposed to just a random set of facts and evidence that don't come back to an anchor. That's a great example of that. It's basically priming being used very deliberately. 

Chris Dominic: Exactly, exactly. And being intentional about it, being intentional about it part of the strategy. 

Craig Thompson: That's right. 

Chris Dominic: So this is one I'm dying to ask you too. What's one of the most challenging decisions you've ever made during a trial? 

Craig Thompson: Those challenging decisions usually come either during opening or during closing because those are the times when you are speaking directly to jurors. Vadi, of course, is one of those opportunities. But in terms of the messaging, those are the times when you have direct contact with, eye contact with jurors. So the most difficult decisions that I've had to make are whether I want to go there now. And if I do, I have to live with it. And so whether it's sort of bringing in controversial subject matters, saying something that could be perceived as paternalistic or just kind of phony, making a reference to a local location, knowing I'm not from there, maybe pronouncing something wrong. It's kind of making that decision in the moment. Like, am I really ready to go there? Because once it's in the environment, I can't take it back. And so those have been some of the more challenging decisions. Do I want to go there right now? And if I do, am I ready to live with it? 

Chris Dominic: That reminds me of something that we worked on together where I was very impressed with your courage. You knew that there was an opening to be able to collapse to your best issue, but that makes a lot of people nervous. 

Craig Thompson: Yeah, because that looks like you're not covering the issues, but it is just closing. 

Chris Dominic: Yeah, right. Everything's in the can, as they say. But in terms of persuading jurors today, what do we have? How can I argue? I won this trial. And I remember the line that you used was the day they lost was this day. And it was at this time when this expert was done with their testimony because they didn't do this. And I just thought it had to have taken a lot of guts to do that. Tell me a little bit about what happened. Like what was the reasoning or was it a gut call? 

Craig Thompson: Absolutely a gut call. And just like I'm looking you in the eyes, when you're looking jurors in the eyes, you can kind of get a sense of their flexibility and their trust in you to kind of go there. And if you make a mistake, you make a mistake as someone they trust. And that particular moment was just kind of reading the room and understanding that this was my opportunity on behalf of the client to state our truth and to say at this moment. And you remember this, this is when X happened and kind of go from there. And once you see a couple of nods or some affirmative reaction, that's when you know, brain, heart, courage, that it's time to lean in. 

Chris Dominic: Yeah, that's great. And you have to the delivery has to pull it off, right. 

Craig Thompson: That's right. You've got to really get there. You've got to be all in and you have to be sincere. I mean, that's the thing people can sense when you're not being sincere about something. 

Chris Dominic: So true. Because another part of that trial was kind of going there with a very sensitive area when we were talking about civil rights and kind of comparing that to the legal system and the issues that we were dealing with in our trial. And so once you're given permission to tell your truth, you should lean in. 

Craig Thompson: Yeah, you know, if we used a football analogy, you had to make the long pass, but the guy was open. 

Chris Dominic: Yeah. So it's more pressure sometimes. 

Craig Thompson: I know. That's really true. 

Chris Dominic: So true. OK, so what's a piece of advice you received really early in your career that still guides you today? 

Craig Thompson: The concept of this too shall pass is real. As younger attorneys and younger professionals, everything is taken personally and means the end of the world or that you're the greatest thing since sliced bread. That too shall pass. That too shall pass. And so I think that in order to maintain a level of stability and credibility and comfort with who you are, you got to realize that whether it's the greatest of highs or the lowest of lows, it's going to pass. And there's going to be another opportunity to demonstrate your greatness. But don't think that because of past failures or successes that that's going to be a consistent. And you got to let things go. 

Chris Dominic: You had good mentors. 

Craig Thompson: Yes, if you could, this is kind of a different way to say this. So not your mentor, but you, if you could go back and give advice to yourself to a young trial lawyer or maybe a new young trial lawyer today, other than what you just told me, what would it be? 

Craig Thompson: Don't want to get too existential or mindful, if you will. That's the term these days. But I think I would tell my younger self to understand the importance of breathing. And there were times when I was younger where I would kind of hyperventilate or get caught up in my own anxiety and frustration because I wasn't breathing properly. And it's only recent or more recent that I've understood the importance of just taking a deep breath and allowing things to manifest and come about and then walk into it. So whether it's before a golf swing or before a speech, before coming here with you and certainly before getting up and standing in front of a judge or jury, breathe. Let it in and then go be great. 

Chris Dominic: It feels like one of those places that just nobody talked to us about that when we were young kind of thing. But it's real. I read a book on it not long ago and it was really powerful. 

Craig Thompson: Yeah. It's important. 

Chris Dominic: All right. So it's been great talking with you today, Craig. I really, really appreciate it. It's always a pleasure to get together and talk about this. Adam, take it away. 

Adam Bloomberg (Outro): Thank you to our guests for speaking with us today. To discover how the IMS team can help give your case an edge, check out imslegal.com or shoot us an e-mail at contactus@imslegal.com. IMS has served trusted law firms and corporations worldwide for more than 30 years and over 65,000 cases. As a strategic partner for the full case life cycle, our integrated teams provide specialized advisory support, expert witness services, litigation consulting, visual advocacy, and presentation technology to elevate strategies and protect hard-earned reputations. Learn more at imslegal.com.