The Power of Folksy - David Boies' Performance Art

 Hulu's docu-drama "The Dropout" captures master-litigator David Boies at his best.

There he is negotiating with patent-creator Richard Fuisz to terminate a lawsuit against Theranos. The trade would be that Theranos would then end its against Fuisz. The brilliant performance art is this: Boies calmly sits there eating cheezits and reflecting on their merit. That folksy persona is, of course, part of the Boies' menu of staging devices. So are, as Fuisz points out, the cheap suits. 

Folksy plays well.

Jones Day's Mickey Pohl does that with practiced genius in cross-examination. For example, he started decimating a witness for the state of Rhode Island in the lead paint trial with a version of "I know you are a busy guy. " His choir-boy looks reinforce that image. His rhetoric in closing arguments is often about being ever so humble.

Another trial-lawyer signature is the always-on. SuperLawyers documents how Brad Karp, who became chairman of Paul Weiss, never seems to sleep. Or, that's how his clients (and opposing counsel) might perceive him. That means he could have an eight-hour edge every day. Annually that advantage totals 2,920 hours. 

Well, Boies pulls off a victory with blabber-mouth Fuisz. 

But he fails in blocking the publication in The Wall Street Journal of the article that reversed abruptly the gush media about Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes. In play was the beginning of the end.

During this time when tech is unraveling - 16,000 tech jobs lost in May - "The Dropout" will probably attract many viewers. Among its key takeaways is how fearful some businesspeople are of becoming "dinosaurs." That mindset is what made Walgreens a sitting duck for the Theranos con. 

When tech was riding high it had the power and the influence to designate anyone and anything as a dino. Among those labeled like that had been Warren Buffett when he resisted championing crypto. His caution proved right on the money, at least for now. In the future, that one will be re-thought.

Meanwhile we dinos have been pushing back. Recently I was a guest on a podcast episode, which won an award from Media Dimensions, about how to keep working after-50. Here you can listen in.

My message was: Transcend aging bias by putting out there "Here's what I can do for you." Then the game becomes binary. Either they want those services or they don't. And that's that.

Connect with Editor-in-Chief Jane Genova at janegenova374@gmail.com. She helps businesses conjure up magic in their storytelling. One client said, "She makes shipping containers ‘sexy.’"

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