THE OKLAHOMA BAR JOURNAL 34 | NOVEMBER 2025 Trial by Jury Becoming a Raconteur: Preparation of the Closing Argument By Robert Don Gifford II “[Preparation] is the be-all of good trial work. Everything else – felicity of expression, improvisational brilliance – is a satellite around the sun. Thorough preparation is that sun.” – Louis Nizer1 PROLOGUE: ‘MAY IT PLEASE THE COURT. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN OF THE JURY ...’ The closing argument is a lawyer’s final opportunity to give meaning, context and perspective to the evidence introduced during a trial. It is “a finely crafted verbal work of art”2 that concisely incorporates all of the evidence from trial into one theory so that the evidence the jury hears is consistent with the attorney’s theme of the case.3 Because the argument is received by the juror’s ear and not read by the eye, the closing argument remains one of the highest forms of the ancient art of the true “raconteur.”4 In a criminal trial, the accused has “a constitutional right to be heard in summation of the evidence from the point of view most favorable to him.”5 Such right arises out of the Sixth Amendment’s “right to the assistance of counsel,” which the U.S. Supreme Court defines as “the opportunity to participate fully and fairly in the adversary fact finding process.”6 In Oklahoma state criminal matters, this right is codified.7 The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals has long allowed counsel for the parties a wide range of discussion and illustration.8 In giving a closing argument, counsel have a “considerable degree of latitude”9 to discuss fully from their standpoint the evidence and “may argue all reasonable inferences from the evidence in the record,”10 as well as deductions and conclusions drawn from the evidence.11 In civil matters, closing arguments are discretionary with the trial court,12 and the Oklahoma Supreme Court has determined there is no error to deny closing arguments in civil matters since it rests in the discretion of the trial judge.13 FOUNDATIONS: THE ETHICS OF CLOSING ARGUMENTS “How high a price is that to pay if he saved just one single life? Madam, I will give you $427,000 for your child. Deal? And you, madam. Same price for your husband. And you, counselor. How about half a million bucks for your precious hide?” – Jedediah Tucker Ward (Gene Hackman) in Class Action (1991) Above all, prepare for closing argument by staying within the boundaries of the Rules of Professional Responsibility.14 During both trial and on appeal, courts routinely monitor an attorney’s closing argument with great scrutiny as it is often prone to error.15 Error in closing arguments arises most often with criminal prosecutors and in civil litigation when the lawyer becomes recklessly focused on “winning the battle” Statements or opinions expressed in the Oklahoma Bar Journal are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Oklahoma Bar Association, its officers, Board of Governors, Board of Editors or staff.
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