I think that it probably has. Now, I don’t suggest to everybody got out and try to get dyslexia to become a better lawyer, but I think one of the things that happens with dyslexia is that you try to adapt. And one of the things that when you have dyslexia, as I do, reading is hard, and reading notes is particularly hard because you’re looking down and you’re trying to find your place without sort of totally losing contact with the judge, the jury, the audience, or whoever you’re talking to.

And so it became clear to me, early, and I was a high school debater and then a college debater, and in debate everybody uses these notecards. But it became clear to me really early on that I couldn’t effectively use those notes. So, I had to learn to speak extemporaneously. I had to learn to know an outline of points in my head and be able to talk around those points. Not memorize anything, but to talk extemporaneously around an outline that I had in my head.

That has been particularly effective with juries and judges too, to some exempt, in the sent that I generally speak without notes, and I think that has made me a better lawyer.

Also, when you’re dyslexic and reading is difficult, you look for other ways of acquiring information, and one obvious way of acquiring information is to listen. And I’m a very good listener. I can learn a lot about listening. I listened, and I understand the words, the nuances. I can tell when somebody’s hesitating.

You can tell a lot about how strong somebody feels about something by the way they talk, and even the words that they use. And I’m very alert to the kinds of words people use when they’re a little uncomfortable, and that helps a great deal in cross-examination.