Courtesy SunWolf: A criminal defense lawyer’s criminal defense lawyer, showing lawyers the powerful path to humanizing our clients, through storytellng, kindness to all, summoning our inner magic, and a reminder that “reality is no obstacle.”

Dr. SunWolf — the great storytelling lawyer who proclaims that “Reality is no obstacle” — is one of my six most influential and beneficial trial teachers and inspirers. The others are Stephen Rench, who inspires trial lawyers to “Dare to be great;” Larry Pozner, who teams with Roger Dodd to make effective cross examination less a mystery and more an achievable goal; Don Clarkson, a Radar O’Reilly of sorts who gets right to the heart of the matter in helping lawyers prepare for trial; Josh Karton, an acting teacher par excellence who gets to the heart of the matter as quickly as Don Clarkson; and Gerry Spence, who inspires to win for justice and in life by discovering and cultivating our unique magic, warts and all.

I have been hooked on SunWolf ever since she presented an amazing session on motions hearings at the 1994 National Criminal Defense College Trial Practice Institute. SunWolf shows the power of persuading through storytelling. She is a past training director of the Colorado Public Defender’s office, and  is now an associate professor of communication at Santa Clara University.

SunWolf’s jury dynamic books and companion Jury Talk DVD are musts for trial lawyers.

Now available for pre-order, and delivery in fall 2013, is SunWolf’s God-Thinking: Every Juror’s Moral Brain, Religious Beliefs, and Their Effects on
a Trial Verdict.  The book’s website states that: “Every trial, civil or criminal, can become a battle of good and evil in the
minds of the jurors, yet trial advocacy books have ignored this dynamic. This
book invites trial practitioners, attorneys, judges, and consultants to engage
in new thinking about how jurors’ moral compasses affect trial outcomes.”

Promoting SunWolf’s new God-Thinking is my opportunity to give back in a small way to SunWolf for all the amazing gifts she has shared with me and countless others. Jon Katz.