The Trial Practice Tips Weblog

Deposition Objections: Good and Bad

What deposition objections are proper? Which are improper? Find out at the Lawyerist: "Proper Deposition Objections."

And see this related post at Trial Practice Tips: "Objections to the Form of a Question: A Partial List."

The iPad and Jury Selection

At the Persuasive Litigator, Ken Broda-Bahm reviews two apps, iJuror and Jury Duty, "based on their functional ability to replace paper notes, or other PC-based systems." Link from iPhone J.D.

Cross-Examination: Tips from James R. Elkins

Cross-examination tips: A page of links from Professor James R. Elkins at the West Virginia University College of Law, including articles, videos, and book recommendations.

Legal Briefs: How to Make Them Shorter

From the archives: "Legal Writing: Is Shorter Really Better?"

Examining Witnesses: Tips from Pace Law Library

Recommended: A page from the Pace Law Library website titled "Examination and Cross-Examination: Getting the Facts," which includes a number of articles, orqanizations, and other resources that you can bookmark and review later.

Deposition Checklists and Strategies, Fifth Revision

The fifth revision to my book, Deposition Checklists and Strategies, has been published by James Publishing.

The new revision contains a number of new practice tips, a section listing practice tips by type and category, a long appendix featuring real-life deposition transcripts for study, and much more.

Here's a testimonial about the book from Ross Mann, an attorney whom I don't know, yet who was kind enough to email me last month about my book--

Your deposition book was INSTRUMENTAL in my first deposition. I proceeded to take my first adverse dep without ever having seen a dep in my life--and I had full confidence because I thoroughly studied your book. Thanks so much for the work!

You can view and print a detailed brochure about Deposition Checklists and Strategies at this link (pdf).

Telling Stories at Trial

"[E]excessive strategizing about trial advocacy is counterproductive," writes Max Kennerly of the Litigation & Trial blog in this paragraph--

All of which leads me to believe that excessive strategizing about trial advocacy is counterproductive, a product of our intuition leading us astray with psychological illusions like confirmation bias. Facts win cases. The minimum performance required for a trial lawyer to be considered competent is quite high (and there are many incompetent trial lawyers), and there are differences in style and performance that separate the great trial lawyers from the competent ones, but no one reasonable decision at trial ever sways the case one way or another.

The quote is pulled from the end of a long post about trial styles and story-telling: "Trial Lawyers As Storytellers, The Narratives Versus The Numbers." It's a useful read if you've been thinking about how to organize trial facts into a compelling narrative, and how much this matters to the outcome of your case.

Thinking About Going Solo?

From Keith Lee's Associate's Mind, "Review: Solo by Choice"--

[F]rom what I’ve read around the web, the general consensus for the best place for advice regarding going solo is Carolyn Elefant’s book, Solo By Choice (and her accompanying website, myshingle.com). With that in mind, I purchased a copy to see for myself.

The remainder of Lee's long post is a comprehesive review of Solo By Choice, which concludes "it's a fantastic book." (My own review of Solo By Choice, which has a similar conclusion, is here.)

Seven Tips for Opening Statement

From the New York Law Journal: "Opening to Win: Seven tips for delivering an effective opening statement," by David R. Marriott and Richard Sullivan--

While the opening statement occupies a small portion of most trials, it is difficult to overstate its importance in a jury trial. Done well, a lawyer's opening statement can shape the way jurors receive the evidence and create a lasting positive impression. Done poorly, an opening statement can put counsel at an early disadvantage from which it may be difficult to recover. Although there is no single formula for every case, this article outlines seven tips for delivering a winning opening statement.

In the full article, the authors make the following recommendations:

• Recognize the importance of opening statement;
• Argue without being argumentative;
• Tell your story;
• Focus on your key facts;
• Account for the bad facts;
• Use demonstrative and visual aids; and
• Communicate with conviction.

For details, read the full article. For other tips, see this weblog's opening statement category.

Depositions: Five Pointless Questions

From Michael P. Maslanka at Work Matters: "Five pointless questions to ask in a deposition," which concludes--

Once upon a time, I anguished over every answer to every pointless question. No more. A judge or a jury looks at a case from a 30,000 foot perspective. It is not about the trees; it is about the forest. It is not about the minutiae; it is about the broad narrative. So, take a breather.

A nice sentiment! See the full post for the pointless questions, about which Maslanka confesses, "I have sinned as to each."

During a Trial: What's Important and What's Not?

From the Wisconsin Law Journal: "Trial Techniques: What lawyers should (and shouldn’t) worry about in the courtroom," by Alexandra Rudolph--

As the owner of a Chicago jury research firm, I’ve seen a number of lawyers make the same mistakes and misjudgments countless times over the years.

In my experience, attorneys spend too much time worrying about things they can’t control, such as opinions expressed during jury selection, and too little time considering how their trial team appears to the court or what a judge might find most helpful.

Rudolph goes on to list "things to stop worrying about," with explanation--

• Whether jurors will be turned off by use of technology;
• How the jury will react to a witness who seems to have been prepared to testify by a lawyer;
• Whether comments made during jury selection have tainted the jury;
• How a jury will respond to an expert who makes small admissions that seem to bolster the other side's case.

What's really worth worrying about? According to Rudolph--

• Technology misfires;
• A disjointed trial team;
• Whether you have sufficiently educated the judge;
• Whether you have clearly communicated with the jury throughout the trial.

You can read Rudolph's full article, with its explanatory text, at the link.

Building a Mobile Law Library with an iPad

Here are two posts about using an iPad to build and store a mobile law library--

"Build a Mobile Law Library with GoodReader," by Rob Dean at WALKINGOFFICE, who gives you step-by-step instructions plus real-life examples; and,

"Additional Thoughts about Carrying a Law Library on your iPad," by Josh Barrett at Tablet Legal, which suggests alternatives to the GoodReader app, plus some other tweaks.

Related post at Trial Practice Tips: "Update on Free Fastcase App."

Tips for Better Legal Writing

My three articles on legal writing, all originally published in the Illinois Bar Journal, continue to get a steady stream of Google-fueled web traffic.

I've reposted these three articles on my personal website. Follow the links to--

"Five Steps Towards Persuasive Writing,"

"Improve Your Legal Writing with Five Simple Rules," and

"First Drafts Made Easy."

Hundreds of other legal-writing tips can be found here at Trial Practice Tips in the "Legal Writing" category.

Cross-Examining with a Facebook Page

Here's a self-explanatory quote from Boudwin v. General Ins. Co. of America, 2011 WL 4433578 (La. App. Ct. Sept. 14, 2011)--

On cross examination, however, Lee acknowledged several entries from his Facebook page where he reported frequently “working out” and also playing sports such as basketball, tennis, “ultimate Frisbee,” and softball, sometimes engaging in multiple sessions of sporting activities in a single day. He further acknowledged that he wrote on his Facebook page that he had participated in a softball tournament in the month before trial, which happened to be two days before his final visit with. Dr. Cenac. When asked if he had informed Dr. Cenac of any of injuries he had sustained while playing sports, he stated that he told Dr. Cenac that he stayed “active,” but that he was “not inclined” to tell Dr. Cenac that he was playing on softball teams.

Read commentary about the case, and further examples of social media tripping up litigants, at Goldman's Observations.

Related post at Trial Practice Tips: "Facebook and Discovery, an Update."

A New iPad Book for Lawyers

Title: iPad in One Hour for Lawyers, by Tom Mighell.

For information about the print and ebook versions, see the short review by Ernest Svenson.

Says Svenson, "Every lawyer who gets an iPad for the first time should get this book."

Direct Examination: Put the Witness at Ease

As J. Patrick Hazel writes--

Unless the witness is a professional testifier, terror is likely the witness's dominant emotion. Ask a few questions to ease that feeling. Ask things that cannot be challenged by the opposing lawyer and the jury. "Where do you live?" "Where do you work?" "Are you married?" "Do you have any children?" "Where do your children go to school" are a few such questions. Even if the witness goofs in answering these questions, no one else will know.

Source: "Direct Examination," by J. Patrick Hazel, in The Litigation Manual: Trial.

Related post: "Another Book to Think About: The Litigation Manual: First Supplement."

Federal Rules for the iPhone and iPad, cheap

Jeff Richardson of iPhone J.D. recommends a $1 app by Matt Miller containing the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Or you can consider the free LawStack app.

About the Author of this Website

You can find biographical information about me, Evan Schaeffer, the author of the Trial Practice Tips Weblog, by following the link my personal website. 

My personal website, EvanSchaeffer.com, contains a brief overview of my career as a lawyer and a writer. It also includes many of my publications, both law-related writing and fiction, satire, and commentary.

For Plaintiffs' Lawyers: Who Should You Call As Your First Witness?

At The Maryland Injury Lawyer Blog, Ronald V. Miller, Jr., has a post titled "Sequence of Witnesses," which discusses strategies for choosing the first witness in a trial.

Miller's post includes advice from David Ball's book Damages, which was recently released in a third edition.

Navigating Trial Practice Tips by Category

Since I started this weblog in January, 2004, I've written 947 posts, enough material for a good-sized book. Most of these posts are assigned to one or more categories. You can get to these categories by clicking on the list that appears on the left side of the weblog. I've also listed the categories here, followed by the number of weblog posts that have been assigned to each:

Appeal 26
Books 31
Class Actions 26
Closing Argument 28
Courtroom Tech 31
Cross-Examination 44
Current Affairs 5
Damages 14
Depositions 157
Direct Examination 14
Discovery 88
Evidence 46
Experts 53
Instructions 10
Law Online 36
Legal Writing 61
Mediation/Arbitration 8
Miscellaneous 83
Motion Practice 37
Opening Statement 19
Pleadings 5
Requests for Admissions 10
Settlement 6
Trial Style 37
Voir Dire 36
Web/Tech 65
Weblogs 27

Thanks for reading the Trial Practice Tips Weblog.