Ok. Since trust and honesty go hand-in-hand, this seems pretty obvious and not such a “secret,” right? The problem is, I’m not referring in this post to the “Don’t-Commingle-Client-Funds-With-Your-Own-Money,” or “Don’t-Say-You’re-Licensed-To-Practice-Law-When-You-Were-Recently-Disbarred” brand of honesty. Anyone who is…
Read ArticleIt used to be that I gave no real thought to when, in the course of a lawsuit, I would serve contention interrogatories. Sometimes, I would serve them concurrently with my client’s answer to a…
Read ArticleI was talking the other day with a young lawyer about, guess what, the challenges facing new graduates. This lawyer had just started a new job and I was telling him how fortunate he will be to get…
Read ArticleI’ve been really fortunate over the years to get the opportunity to observe first-hand how focus groups and mock trials can help trial lawyers refine their strategy and presentation of cases. They can also be…
Read ArticleBloomberg TV interviewed Vel Hogan, the foreperson of the jury in the recent Apple v. Microsoft patent trial, which returned a $1 billion verdict in Apple’s favor. Undoubtedly future jury consultants will anchor entire PhD…
Read ArticleI recently defended a fairly contentious deposition. To my surprise, my witness complained to me during a private meeting halfway through the deposition, “I wish you’d really give it to him. If I was a…
Read ArticleBecause my finger is ever tapped to the thumping pulse of civil procedure in our fine state, it only took me slightly over a month to realize there’s a new and improved way to lose your right…
Read ArticleI’ve been embroiled in a multi-week deposition bonanza in a religious discrimination case. Yesterday, though, I experienced a first. We were deposing the plaintiff. Her lawyer is very seasoned. While my co-counsel was conducting…
Read ArticleIn his book, Litigation, Professor James McElhaney laments the fact that civil litigators are horrified at the prospect of a blind cross-examination. As a result, he argues, “[e]very year we spend millions of dollars…
Read ArticleImagine spending good money, effort and frustration to obtain a judgment only to realize it will cost even more good money, effort and frustration to collect the judgment. Sometime back I obtained a judgment on behalf…
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