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Motion in Limine: An Effective Pretrial Tool and Weapon (Part 2)
Here are some additional topics to consider: Unnecessary Medical Treatment. You should preclude or prohibit the defense counsel from alleging or arguing that plaintiff’s accident-related medical expenses are unnecessary or unreasonable. All damages directly attributable to the wrong are recoverable by the victim. The law also typically allows an injured plaintiff to recover reasonable →
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Strategies for the Cross-Examination of Experts
In my last post, I discussed what a trial attorney can do to prepare for the cross-examination of an adverse expert. Below are some strategies that can be used in successfully cross-examining an adverse expert witness: 1. Favorable Evidence: One tactic that should not be ignored is using the opposing party’s expert to concede to →
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Cross-Examination of Experts: Where to Start.
Where do you start with your preparation to cross-examine an expert? The following is a list of areas to review: 1. The Expert’s Curriculum Vita: You should thoroughly review the expert’s c.v. Expert’s will exaggerate and even make up credentials. In a criminal case I was defending the State’s expert, an environmental specialist, claimed he →
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Trial Work: Variety is the Spice of Life.
I have practiced nearly 30 years. I have not found it boring and have loved doing it. I have been blessed with a variety of cases and have not been afraid to push my boundaries a little from time-to-time. I have worked as a federal law clerk, state prosecutor, federal prosecutor, insurance defense attorney, criminal defense attorney →
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Fireside Reading for the Trial Lawyer
The next best thing to being in court is reading about it. The following is a list of books I believe will help you become a better trial attorney: 1.Polarizing the Case: Exposing and Defeating the Malingering Myth by Rick Friedman ;- this book provides an innovative approach to trying cases. Too often we allow →
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The Greatest Rule of Cross Examination – Always ask a leading question!
Alright you are getting ready to do your first cross-examination and you wonder what is the most important rule to being successful? It is simply this “Always ask leading questions that provide information supportive of you case.” You ask, “How can that be?” That’s too simple! The rule is easy to announce, but it is →
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Cross Examination: Why Pigs Get Fat & Hogs Get Slaughtered
Cross-examination is often considered by many to be an art. When it comes to strategy, sometimes all you need is a little common sense. We all have heard the old saying, “Pigs get fat and hogs get slaughtered”, but what’s that got to do with cross-examination? Greed can be a vice and a weakness even →
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For the Record: Offers to Prove… Do They Make a Difference?
You appear for your final pretrial conference and after a short discussion or perhaps with no hearing, the Court grants your opponent’s motion in limine and excludes evidence or testimony essential to your client’s case. Now what do you do? Well, your starting point for an answer to this dilemma is Rule 103 of the Federal →
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Zingers: The power of the “one-liner” in communicating with jurors
There is nothing more powerful in terms of capturing someone’s attention and imbedding your message in their brain than a good one-liner or as I like to call them, a “zinger”. A “zinger” is described as “a surprising or unusually pointed or telling remark.” In today’s modern fast paced world, speechwriters and politicians often work →
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Analogies: The power of parables and fables
Want the jury to remember the key points of your closing argument? Having trouble making a point of law clear? The answer is to find a good analogy or anecdote to make your point. Some of the best teachers I had were those who used analogies to drive a point home. Jesus parables such as →
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Jury selection in ten minutes or less… Can it be done effectively?
The time allowed for jury selection today is typically very brief compared to the time allotted years ago to attorneys. One article that I recently read by Attorney Karen Koehler provided an interesting and effective approach to dealing with limited time for questioning potential jurors. This is what she said to a panel of prospective →
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Refreshing Recollection vs. Past Recollection Recorded
Refreshing Recollection. A client needs to be thoroughly familiarized with what it means to forget as opposed to not knowing something. If one says, “I don’t know,” something, that means it was never in their brain. “I don’t remember,” on the other hand, means that the information was once in their brain, but cannot be →
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How to Avoid Bad Questions and Answers
Helping your client refresh their memory regarding facts pertinent to the case is just the beginning of your job in preparing your client to testify at their deposition. You also need prepare your client for problem areas of questioning. The following is a list of problem questions and how to deal with them during the →
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Deposition Preparation Begins Long Before the Deposition
An important aspect of your case is your client’s deposition. A case’s value turns on the credibility and likeability of your client. As a former insurance defense attorney, the most important aspect to the evaluation of a case’s value was the deposition of the Plaintiff. Oftentimes, insurance companies are reluctant to make any significant offers →
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iPad App doubles as a Trial Notebook
I was looking for a program that could emulate the structure of my file system I use for jury trials. I looked at several programs that were touted as the answer for use on my new iPad 2 I received for my birthday. I looked at all the Apple App World had to offer to →
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The Silent Cross-Examination… When nothing is better.
Nothing is more thrilling than conducting a good cross-examination of an adverse witness. The attorney through a series of leading questions wrangles concessions and makes his own case through a line of short and concise rhetorical questions that lead to an undeniable conclusion in favor of one’s client. However, there are times when no cross-examination is the best course of →
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Jury Selection-What’s the Goal?
Of all the areas of trial work, this is probably the most difficult and important task that confronts a courtroom attorney. I have seen many different approaches used in questioning and selecting a jury. Your time is limited and the stakes are high. If you “guess’ incorrectly you can lose your case before it even →
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Mastering the Rules of Evidence: Is it really important?
Early in my career, the “rules” of evidence were derived by reading case-law and the handful of statutes that addressed privilege and competence. If you wanted to know the “rules”, you had to research and read case-law. The only ready compendium were books like Graham’s Handbook on Federal Evidence. Today, litigators in every state and →
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The Barrister's Toolbox 