Closing Argument: Opportunity and Challenge
Episode 28: Opening Statements: Some Common Challenges
Why Demonstrative Aids Are Critical in Every Case
Podcast - The Unwritten Rules of Trial Practice
Jury Selection Strategy in Product Liability Litigation – IMS Insights Podcast Episode 64
In this episode of "The Trial Lawyer's Handbook" podcast series, litigation attorney Dan Small discusses the complexities attorneys face in crafting an effective opening statement during a trial. He tackles common challenges...more
In the first episode of his "The Trial Lawyer's Handbook" podcast series, litigation attorney Dan Small breaks down the unwritten rules of trial practice that must be learned through experience and observation over time. Mr....more
Analyzed by legal scholars, cited as precedent for modern international law and medical ethics, and depicted in movies, the tale of the Nuremberg Trials imparts wisdom, reveals uncomfortable truths about the human condition...more
We have all used them. It might be a repeated word or phrase like, “I would say,” “it seems to me that,” or “like.” It might be a repeated sound like “uh,” “um,” “ah,” or “er.” Not all of the speech is content; some of it is...more
Trial lawyers work in words: language that is precise, economical, and influential. Those words are the water that litigators swim in, and for that reason, the absence of words can be a little uncomfortable. That can be an...more
The habit of sort of just filling in your speech with expressions of uncertainty, when you’re not really that uncertain, is probably a bad habit. I mean, I am fairly sure that these hedges cut down on your perceived...more
First, a pet peeve I just have to get off my chest: It is not called a “podium,” it is called a “lectern.” A podium is a platform that you stand on in order to be seen by an audience. And if you don’t believe me (because you...more
“Epistimology,” or the question of how we know what we know, seems like an abstract rather than a practical idea. But when it comes to the practical task of assessing and persuading jurors, the epistemological habits of those...more
It is one of the basics emphasized in your first public speaking class: Have a clear transition between your main points. But it is also a rule that many experienced communicators set aside or start taking for granted. As you...more
The two terms are often used interchangeably, but “rebuttal” doesn’t mean the same thing as “refutation.” The latter amounts to an attack on the arguments of the other side, and the former means rebuilding your own arguments...more
Sometimes an idea is so simplistically brilliant you wonder why no one actually thought of it before. That was the first thing I thought when two Houston lawyers, Keith Hennessee, OF Counsel at Givens & Johnston, and Joel...more