In 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 ArticleIn an August 3rd profile of high-end family law practitioners Daniel Jaffe and Bruce Clemens, the Los Angeles Daily Journal quoted these lawyers as citing five important areas for litigators: “A lawyer has to…
Read ArticleI cut my teeth as a young lawyer doing almost exclusively automotive product liability defense. What always amazed me, particularly in cases involving extreme tragedy (death, disfigurement, paralysis), was how the automobile manufacturers took…
Read ArticleA great recent post at What About Clients? highlights a policy that will benefit most trial lawyers. Basically, no later than 60 days before trial, take a fresh look at everything. Here’s how it…
Read Articlehttps://youtu.be/fgIBG8q1Gjc In this clip from A Few Good Men, two Marines are on trial for a murder on their training base. The Marines’ defense is that they were ordered by officers to give the…
Read ArticleOne of those absolutely crucial lessons most law schools don’t teach, but which you need to know if you’re going to appear in court, is the importance of making nice with the courtroom staff. …
Read ArticleA great post on Associate’s Mind, entitled “Millennial Jurors: Entertain Us,” discusses the challenges facing trial lawyers trying to communicate with Gen-Y jurors. In addition to prognostications about how these young adults can’t sit…
Read ArticleI ran across this post by Karen Koehler, at a blawg I really like, The Velvet Hammer, which highlights something I’ve known for a long time: you’re far better off trying a case against an…
Read ArticleAn article in the Wall Street Journal Tuesday discussing the Rajat Gupta insider trading trial in NYC pointed out that the judge and the accused’s defense attorney, who are apparently longtime friends, have been cracking jokes throughout…
Read Article