Concrete advice on how to field tough questions from the appellate bench, which applies equally well to fielding hard questions from a trial judge, is provided by Justice Paul Anderson of the Minnesota Supreme Court (ret.) in Chapter 16 of The Appellate Prosecutor book. Justice Anderson states:“Appellate judges enjoy asking questions. It is our lifeblood.
Get your free GUIDE to being A GREAT COMMUNICATOR IN TRIALOratory has been defined as “the art of making formal speeches which strongly affect people’s feelings and beliefs”Learn the THREE CHARACTERISTICS of a GREAT COMMUNICATOR IN TRIAL in this ADVOCACY NEWS & VIEWS Newsletter.CLICK HERE GET YOUR FREE GUIDE
As an advocacy you need those vital writing skills. Sally Bulford, a Utah lawyer, provided these humorous writing pointers under the title “How to Write Good”. 1. Avoid alliteration. Always.2. Prepositions are not words to end sentences with.3. Avoid cliches like the plague. (They’re old hat.)4. Employ the vernacular.5. Eschew ampersands & abbreviations, etc.6. Parenthetical
Checklists are critical to pretrial and trial work. To illustrate the importance of checklists, Dr. Atul Gawande tells the true story of an October 30, 1935 airplane flight competition that the U.S. Army Air Corps held at Wright Air Field in Dayton Ohio to determine which military-long range bomber to purchase. Boeing’s “flying fortress” was
George (Bob) Dekle’s book entitled Prairie Defender: The Murder Trials of Abraham Lincoln provides a brilliant anatomy of Lincoln’s murder trials. It is a great read on multiple levels. First, it reveals the true nature of Lincoln’s trial practice, debunking myths with solid evidence and providing an accurate description of his trial work. For instance,
Cynthia Ozick, a shorty story writer, once said, “two things remain irretrievable: time and a first impression.” So true. Opening statement is a trial lawyer’s best opportunity to make a positive first impression of the case. I’m currently teaching two Visual Litigation and Today’s Technology courses: one for FLEX JD students who are working and will
This Summer, I am teaching two sections of Visual Litigation and Today’s Technology at Seattle University Law School. These are remote-learning courses. One course is a regular course and the other is a FLEX JD course that is offered to people who working or otherwise unable to attend the three-year program. The FLEX JD course
This Eradicating American “Prosecutor Misconduct” Handbook is designed for both prosecutors and defense counsel alike as well as anyone interested in the prosecutor’s roles and functions. Its modest goal is to eradicate what is called “prosecutor misconduct”. While this Handbook may serve as a guidebook for prosecutors, it also arms defense counsel with information that
I just finished lecturing at the University of Montana Law School’s Advanced Trial Advocacy course designed for fledgling trial lawyers. It was an opportunity to make 4 presentations and I attempted to practice what I preached in Powerful Presentation Handbook. Here it is in a nutshell:Whether your speech is intended to educate, persuade,
In case you missed the previous offer of this NEW FREE BOOK about SUCCESSFUL TRIAL SKILLS AND STRATEGIES, here is another opportunity to get it. Just CLICK HERE & CONTINUE TO CLICK THROUGH and the book will be emailed to you. You can not only read about successful trial skills and strategies but also watch
