Alabama State Bar

The young lady at the desk greeted me warmly as I entered The Meadows, the assisted living facility, in Monroeville, Alabama. “Can I help you?” she asked. I flashed my sweetest smile and cleared my throat. I was at the pinnacle moment of a journey that had started months, even years earlier and I was going to savor every nerve-wracking moment of truth, no matter how poorly it could all end.

On a typical Monday morning, Atticus Darrow, Esq. receives an atypical email that sends his pulse racing. A businessman from Nigeria has run into some trouble collecting a debt from an American corporation, and he needs Mr. Darrow’s help. Mr. Darrow is thrilled – he’s always longed to break into the international debt collection scene, and now he has his chance!

What are your thoughts when your client asks, “Do you really think that a person like me could commit such a horrible crime?” Is this projective sentence a simple statement, or is it an evasive response that she’s using as a defense mechanism? According to research on nonverbal communication, this question, and the answer, are quite complicated.