Chicago-Kent College of Law Viewbook - (Page 39) On Jury Trials Anita M. Alvarez ’86 Anita Alvarez began handling misdemeanor cases in the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office in 1986 and quickly moved on to felony jury trials. As she rose to her current position of chief deputy, she served as first chair in the Felony Trial Division, supervisor of the Public Integrity Unit, deputy chief of the Narcotics Bureau, chief of the Special Prosecutions Bureau, and chief of staff. She has tried hundreds of criminal cases and is now responsible for more than 850 assistant Cook County state’s attorneys. It was the encouragement of my professors that led me to consider a career as a trial lawyer. My trial advocacy course gave me a running start, and I learned the rest at a gut level, jury trial after jury trial. Preparation is absolutely key, but one thing to avoid is making the theory of the case too complex, or you risk losing touch with the jury. Even with multiple charges, you may need to concentrate on one or two instead of ten so the jury has something to focus on. Juries like things simple. They want common-sense questions and arguments—they like things to be put together. And you always hope you won’t need to present a stream of witnesses who give boring testimony that won’t appeal to the jury. Trying cases, being in court, has always been the best part of my job. There’s something about waiting for the jury to come back—that feeling, waiting for a verdict. Who’s Who 38 | 39
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