Pop Culture & the Law: Sirens

Not every scar is visible. Some are carefully hidden behind smiles or scarves. When it’s your job to demand justice, it’s crucial to help your client reveal the depths of their injuries. Sirens, a five-episode limited series on Netflix, follows two sisters as they navigate their futures following a tumultuous childhood. It’s not often that I binge a tv show, but I finished the series over a weekend.

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A main theme of the show is about how different people handle trauma. The older sister, Devon, tries to fix everything and cares for everyone but herself. The younger sister, Simone, compartmentalizes her past and does whatever is necessary to secure a stable future for herself.

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Helping Clients Convey the Effects of Trauma

When dealing with clients who have experienced trauma, it can be challenging to help them convey the emotionality of their story. Often people cope with trauma by suppressing difficult emotions. 

In Sirens, Simone’s version of how her mother died has only shards of the truth. Her story features a car and a death, but none of the details that would paint Simone as a victim. Simone carefully edits out the details of her past that might make people see her as pitiful. She would rather push her trauma away and focus on her future. Milly Alcock, the actress who plays Simone, keeps her voice level, her shoulders back and her chin high. When her polished veneer finally cracks, it’s difficult to watch her face her emotions.

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Injury victims might find comfort in focusing on the future, working to establish a new routine that feels safe and secure. While this is positive, it can also lead to a diminishing of the injury they suffered. To prepare clients to tell their story, it can be helpful to encourage them to feel the emotions as if the injury just happened. 

Importantly, this will not work if your client does not trust and feel comfortable with you. Building a solid rapport needs to happen before you can convince your client to relive one of their worst moments. Part of building trust and security is carefully explaining the setting and rules for the testimony. After this work has been done, you can move on to drawing out the emotions. 

Many people will resist revisiting unpleasant feelings, but you can prompt them to take some time to really remember what it was like. Not the abbreviated version, but the real story. One way to know they have started to remember the story fully is when they start experiencing the emotions again. 

Ask them to help you visualize what the scene of the accident looked like. If details feel fuzzy, gently ask for clarification. The goal is to avoid a flat recitation of the facts. Without the emotionality, you risk your client being just another file on the insurance adjuster’s desk. 

Devon is constantly challenging her sister, trying to pull her into the past. Her manner is abrasive, but it works to get through to her sister. Sometimes, attorneys have to push their clients to remember that their injury caused them to lose their job, miss family events, and other negative outcomes. It’s natural for people to want to remain optimistic, but that optimism should not erase the truth of what happened.

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Avoiding Emotional Overwhelm 

On the other hand, you do not want to lose credibility by presenting a client too overwhelmed by their emotions to answer questions convincingly. In Sirens, the older sister Devon is practically a walking billboard for unprocessed trauma. She’s impetuous, loud, and scornful of polite manners. Meghann Fahy’s acting is phenomenal. Watching her, you can almost see the pain vibrating off of her skin. Her flailing arms, stomping feet and defiant voice show us what a thin wire she is walking on. 

At various points, Simone accuses her of distorting the facts. Because Devon seems so fraught, it’s natural for the audience to question her version of the truth. This is a danger in having your client revisit painful emotions. If those emotions become too overwhelming, the story may get labeled unreliable. 

People may be tempted to walk out of a deposition if their emotions become too difficult to handle. Allowing a person to release some of the extra emotions by talking to you before a deposition can help. If someone is feeling too emotional during testimony, taking breaks is crucial. The overall goal should be to create a safe, secure environment that allows for emotions but also offers a release valve if those emotions become too much.

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‍Leslie Hulburt is a co-founder of Hulburt Law Firm. She is an experienced trial attorney who has litigated cases against major corporations, manufacturers and government entities. In addition to the law, she has worked at the washingtonpost.com and as a garden teacher for elementary school students. These experiences give her a unique perspective on the most compelling way to present a case. Leslie finds inspiration in countless places, including movies, tv shows, books and podcasts. Pop Culture & the Law explores the ways our favorite entertainment can offer wisdom in the practice of law.

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