Chilton Varner and the George Lavin Memorial: Why Silent Advocacy Still Matters

By Thomas G. Oakes | PhillyLegalNews

The 2015 George Lavin memorial brought together moderator Chilton Davis Varner and panelists Mary A. Wells, Joseph E. O’Neil and Kyle H. Dreyer to share enduring lessons from Silent Advocacy.

It was twenty years ago—in 2006—that George J. Lavin, Jr. asked Chilton Davis Varner to help put his lessons on trial advocacy into writing.

The invitation brought together two accomplished trial lawyers and produced Silent Advocacy: A Practical Primer for the Trial Attorney. My own copy bears their 2006 copyright and a handwritten dedication from George—a personal reminder of the friendship and teaching behind these pages.

Twenty years later, the lessons still deserve an audience.

Lavin passed away in 2014. About a year later, a remarkable group of trial lawyers gathered for an International Association of Defense Counsel program devoted to his memory and, fittingly, to the teaching of trial practice.

The program was titled “Silent Advocacy: Practical Points for the Trial Attorney.” The IADC’s 2015 Annual Meeting program identifies Varner as moderator and names the three speakers.

The memorial offered a historical look at a particular approach to trying cases—where it came from, how it was taught, how accomplished trial lawyers incorporated its principles into their own styles, and how those principles could be carried forward.

That history remains relevant today.

Courtrooms have changed. Trial technology has changed dramatically. The tools lawyers use to prepare and present cases continue to evolve.

But jurors are still people.

Preparation, credibility, respect and the ability to teach a jury remain fundamental to trial advocacy.

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Chilton Davis Varner: Co-Author, Trial Lawyer and Teacher

Chilton Davis Varner deserves a central place in the history of Silent Advocacy.

She was not simply the moderator of the George Lavin Memorial program. She was Lavin’s co-author, an exceptional trial lawyer in her own right, and an important participant in preserving, practicing and teaching the principles the two had put into book form. The 2015 George Lavin memorial program carried those lessons forward, with Varner and three fellow trial lawyers sharing what they had learned from him.

In opening the memorial program, Varner explained that Lavin had asked her in 2006 to join him in putting the lessons from his Silent Advocacy lectures onto paper.

She described the resulting book as a “labor of love” for both of them.

Her professional background makes that collaboration especially significant. Varner built a national practice involving product liability, mass tort and complex commercial litigation. She also served on the Federal Civil Rules Advisory Committee and was President of the American College of Trial Lawyers in 2012–13. King & Spalding biography.

This was not simply theory being preserved on paper. These were principles being discussed and applied by lawyers who regularly handled difficult litigation in courtrooms around the country.

The George Lavin Memorial Panel – An Extraordinary Panel of Trial Lawyers

The caliber of the lawyers participating in the memorial program says a great deal about both Lavin’s influence and the seriousness with which his teaching was regarded.

Joining Chilton Davis Varner were Joseph E. O’Neil, Mary A. Wells and Kyle H. Dreyer, whose careers connected courtroom practice with teaching and mentorship.

Each brought substantial courtroom experience to the discussion.

Joseph E. O’Neil

Joseph E. O’Neil had a particularly close connection to Lavin.

He had been Lavin’s associate and later his partner in Philadelphia. His IADC biography describes more than 30 years of courtroom experience defending major corporations in complex litigation, including product liability, mass tort, medical-device and commercial matters.

O’Neil served as national counsel for major pharmaceutical, automotive, health and life-sciences companies and as lead trial counsel in state and federal courts throughout the United States. Varner introduced him as the new IADC president; he served for 2015–16 and is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. IADC biography.

Mary A. Wells

Mary A. Wells brought another distinguished national trial practice to the panel.

She founded Wells, Anderson & Race in Denver in 1995 and developed a national practice involving complex litigation, including product liability and business matters. She became a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and received the John P. Raleigh Award from the Product Liability Advisory Council. Thompson Coe historical profile.

Varner also noted an important connection to trial teaching: Wells had led an IADC Trial Academy faculty on which Varner and O’Neil participated.

Kyle H. Dreyer

Kyle H. Dreyer brought decades of national trial experience of his own.

Dreyer was a founding partner of Hartline Dacus Barger Dreyer LLP, where he served on the firm’s management committee. IADC materials describe him as having served as lead trial counsel in virtually every state and having successfully tried complex cases in numerous jurisdictions. His practice included significant product-liability and corporate litigation.

After retiring from the firm, Dreyer became Program Coordinator and an adjunct professor for Baylor Law School’s Executive LL.M. in Litigation Management and continued teaching in Baylor’s Practice Court program, as documented in his 2022 IADC biography.

A Memorial Built Around Teaching

The speakers honored their friend by doing something he valued: teaching trial advocacy.

The program itself was structured around trial practice:

• Mary Wells — Direct Examination
• Joseph O’Neil — Cross-Examination
• Kyle Dreyer — Closing Argument

Chilton Davis Varner provided the historical and philosophical introduction

She told the audience that the four panelists shared a common heritage: George Lavin had been a mentor and teacher.

But she was equally careful to explain that they were different lawyers—with different approaches, different styles and, as she put it, even “different accents.”

That observation captures something important about Silent Advocacy.

Lavin taught principles that lawyers could incorporate into their own advocacy: preparation, mastery of the evidence, credibility, respect and judgment. Those principles could endure while the lawyers applying them retained their individual styles.

“Empower the Jury”

Varner illustrated that process with one of the most important lessons Lavin taught her personally.

As a younger trial lawyer, she believed one of her principal responsibilities in opening statement and closing argument was to convince the jury that her interpretation of the case was the correct one.

Then Lavin asked to read transcripts of one of her opening statements and closing arguments.

When they next spoke, Lavin told her that she was a good advocate—but he thought she was working too hard to convince the jury that the case could come out only one way.

Then came the lesson:

“Empower the jury.”

George J. Lavin, Jr.’s advice, recalled by Chilton Davis Varner in her written introduction to the 2015 IADC memorial program.

Lavin’s reasoning was practical.

Her account emphasized that jurors have real factual questions to resolve. The advocate’s task includes helping them understand those questions and the evidence bearing on them.

Those factual decisions belonged to the jurors. Lavin suggested identifying the important questions openly, explaining that those questions were theirs to decide, and giving them the evidence and room they needed to do their job.

What Chilton Did With the Lesson

Chilton Davis Varner’s account is especially valuable because she put the advice into practice.

In her next trial, she structured her opening around three or four factual issues the jury would ultimately have to resolve.

She previewed the evidence on both sides relating to those issues.

Then, in closing argument, she returned to those same questions and reviewed the evidence bearing upon them.

But the decisions remained where they belonged—with the jury.

Varner said the approach was liberating, and she incorporated it into her own trial practice.

That is a useful example of how Silent Advocacy was passed from lawyer to lawyer: not as a script to be copied, but as a principle to be understood and adapted.

Continuing the Teaching of Silent Advocacy

Lavin’s advice remains useful because it gives lawyers a practical task: identify the questions jurors must decide, organize the evidence around those questions, and help them reach an informed judgment.

Modern presentation tools can support that work. A clear timeline, a well-chosen exhibit or synchronized video testimony can make difficult evidence easier to follow. Their value depends on the preparation and judgment behind them.

Chilton Davis Varner helped preserve these principles as Lavin’s co-author and showed how she adapted them in her own trial practice. At the 2015 memorial, she and her fellow panelists carried that work forward through lessons in direct examination, cross-examination and closing argument.

It was about continuing the teaching.

That purpose also guides the PhillyLegalNews Silent Advocacy Library: preserving the history, examining the lessons chapter by chapter, and considering how they apply in today’s courtrooms.

My copy of Silent Advocacy carries a personal inscription from George:

“Tom — For someone who has always been a friend and supporter — Best wishes, George.”

A Mentor to the Next Generation of Our Family

Mr. Lavin’s influence also reached the next generation of my family.

He was a mentor to my son, Thomas G. Oakes II, Esquire, MBA, as Tom prepared for and pursued his legal education. Lav wanted Tom to attend Villanova University School of Law. Villanova held particular meaning for Lav through his work helping the Augustinians, and he took a personal interest in Tom’s path into the profession.

While attending law school, Tom also began working toward his MBA. He received his law degree first and completed his MBA within the following year.

George also wanted Tom to spend a summer interning with Edward A. Gray, Esquire. That opportunity became an important professional relationship: Tom served as Ed’s summer intern and later became his associate.

Ed’s mentorship continued after Tom established his own practice. They continued speaking weekly, maintaining a relationship that had grown from a summer internship into years of professional guidance.

For our family, these relationships are an enduring part of Mr. Lavin’s legacy. He helped guide Tom toward his education and toward a lawyer who would continue mentoring him as his career developed, and well beyond.

My son now practices through The Oakes Firm. Looking back, I see the same commitment to the next generation that Chilton described in her remarks: experienced lawyers making time to teach, offer guidance and help a young lawyer find his way.

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Continue Exploring the Silent Advocacy Library

For readers new to this body of work, this article can serve as the historical introduction before moving into the chapter-by-chapter series.

Begin with the Silent Advocacy Library, the main PhillyLegalNews hub for this series.

Then see The Lavin Method: Silent Advocacy as Legacy and Trial Strategy for the broader discussion of Lavin’s approach and legacy.

For the subject discussed in the Editor’s Note, see Court Officials: The Forgotten Key to Silent Advocacy, which examines Chapter V and the role of court personnel in Lavin’s philosophy.

Coming Next: Short Videos from PhillyLegalNews

PhillyLegalNews is preparing short educational videos for its YouTube channel, including Quick TechTips with Thomas G. Oakes—practical technology for legal professionals working on trials, depositions and presentations.

The connection to Silent Advocacy is straightforward: presentation tools should help people understand. Whether a lawyer uses a printed exhibit, a photograph, a timeline or a courtroom screen, the purpose remains clear communication supported by preparation and sound judgment.

As the videos become available, we will connect them with related articles so readers can move between the discussion and the visual demonstration.

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