Closing Argument: Opportunity and Challenge
How to Make Clear, Quick and Effective Objections
More on Cross-Examination: Building a Case Brick by Brick
Podcast - Cross-Examination: Don't Ask One Question Too Many
Podcast - The Ten Commandments of Cross-Examination
Podcast - Refresh vs. Impeach: Know the Difference
Podcast - Impeaching with a Deposition
Podcast - Cross-Examination of Expert Witnesses
Cross-Examination: The Three C’s of Impeachment
Cross-Examination: How to Effectively Impeach with a Prior Inconsistent Statement
Cross-Examination: Finding Control
Trial by Tech: The Evolution of the Digital Courtroom – Speaking of Litigation Video Podcast
Podcast - Cross-Examination: Don't Argue - Elicit Facts
Cross-Examination: Asking the Right Leading Questions
Podcast - Cross-Examination: The Importance of Organization
Work This Way: A Labor & Employment Law Podcast - Episode 20: Tips for Court Cases with Judge Dennis and Judge Wilkins of Maynard Nexsen
Understanding When to Cross-Examine
Podcast - Cross-Examination: Basic Approaches
The "Why" of Cross-Examination
Focus Groups as a Trial-Preparation Tool | Elizabeth Larrick | Texas Appellate Law Podcast
For decades, litigators have relied on focus groups. While this approach can help identify issues for further exploration, attorneys often use focus groups to shape trial strategy or even predict outcomes. But focus groups...more
By Dr. Ken Broda-Bahm: The distinction between what is fact and what is opinion is arguably one of the most fundamental distinctions in law. But in practice, it is actually a lawyer’s distinction. In the real world, and in...more
I suspect there has never been any great love affair between attorneys in general and the jury pool. Jurors know that lawyers are there to influence them toward a desired result, and that’s typically met with suspicion....more
As jury verdicts across the country are on an upward trajectory into the hundreds of millions and in some cases billions of dollars, this calls for a different litigation and trial strategy to contain the awards and minimize...more
Recent years’ events have inspired experiential and attitudinal changes among jurors across the board. The 2016 presidential election and the COVID-19 pandemic fostered a shift in attitudes about corporations, governmental...more
IMS Strategy Consultant Dr. Clint Townson delves into jurors’ anti-corporate bias—including how to uncover biases through social media research and counteract them with an impactful company story—as well as ways to avoid...more
Whenever we step up to evaluate a person as a potential juror, it can be an occupational hazard to simplify that person too much. We do our best with the time and information available, and to be sure, jury selection would be...more
Many of us probably watched or heard about the drama this past week in the Women’s Olympic Figure Skating event. Kamila Valieva — just 15-years-old, but with a dominant combination of quad-jumps and world class performance...more
Q: The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the skepticism some laypeople harbor toward scientists and medical experts. How can you overcome these jurors’ perceptions in science-based trials? A: Trial lawyers should spend more...more
This past Friday, eight people died at a music festival in Houston, crushed by a crowd as the music continued and security was unable to help. As the tragedy moves toward litigation, it is likely that this will be another...more
How likely is it that a corporation’s competitor could come up with a parallel product without infringing a patent? How common is it for someone to get injured on an amusement park ride? How normal would it be for someone who...more
As you’re waiting your turn for voir dire, you notice that plaintiff’s counsel is getting a fair number of potential jurors to admit that they might have a bias — against lawsuits, against plaintiffs’ attorneys, against...more
At the voir dire stage of a jury trial, the word “bias” gets used a lot. But do we really know what it means? The courts, in practice at least, hew to a simple meaning: If a potential juror admits to bias, that means they...more
In my last post, I wrote about how the state of Arizona has been a leader in testing options for online trials. That same day, however, Arizona became the first state to eliminate peremptory strikes in criminal and civil...more
Potential jurors arrive at the courtroom with misinformation that might bear on your case. They could have opinions on scientific validity and reliability that will conflict with what your experts will tell them. They might...more
At the start of the case, a trial judge somberly addressed the jury, letting them know what adjustments were expected of them. The instructions told them they, “must as jurors, take all the decisions you have made, all the...more
Wyoming Representative Liz Cheney has just been stripped of her leadership role as the number three Republican in the House. The precipitating incident seems to be that she would not silence her claim that the 2020...more
As a defendant thinking about your risk in the run up to civil trial, you probably have some idea of what your case is worth. But you also know, and have likely used, the expression, “Anything is possible with a jury.” There...more
Lawyers are trained to think logically and analytically. So, if a category ABC includes A, B, and C, one would expect the total, ABC, to be the same as A, B, and C measured separately. But it isn’t always. When human...more
In recent days, I’ve been thinking about all of the “QAnon” followers, and how and whether they are reconciling recent events with their belief in Donald Trump’s role in purging the top echelons of politics and society before...more
Many Republicans believe that President Trump lost the election only due to widespread and systemic voter fraud. When Georgia’s Republican Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger, a Trump voter and donor, says that Democrat...more
It is becoming axiomatic that you can’t talk people out of hardened views. Particularly on political subjects; the common view is that we are in a “post-persuasion” era. Perhaps that depressing assumption explains why I was...more
So Donald Trump now has the coronavirus. As of press time for this blog post, he is fighting the illness from the Presidential Suite at Walter Reed Medical Center. It is news that struck many as both surprising and...more
This blog is dedicated to the proposition that those like me, who want to learn all they can about effective communication and persuasion, can take lessons from almost everything. Even the worst social situations can improve...more