Cross-Examination: The Three C’s of Impeachment
Cross-Examination: How to Effectively Impeach with a Prior Inconsistent Statement
Podcast - Cross-Examination: Don't Argue - Elicit Facts
Podcast - Direct Examination: Getting Rid of Clutter
The Basics of Opening Statements
Exuding Credibility in the Courtroom
Bar Exam Toolbox Podcast Episode 233: Listen and Learn -- Impeachment (Part 2)
The Strategic Advantages of Working with Jury Consultants – IMS Insights Podcast Episode 56
Witness Testimony Themes, Cross Examination, & Preparation Consultants – IMS Insights Podcast Episode 55
Witness Prep Goals, Credibility Factors, & Juror Comprehension – IMS Insights Podcast Episode 54
Live Trials During the COVID-19 Pandemic: What’s Changed?
Protecting Trade Secrets When Facing Lawsuits or Alternative Dispute Resolution Procedures
Podcast - Listen for the Song in Your Witness' Head
Podcast: What is a Deposition?
The "Compass Rose" Method for Corporate Witness Interviews
Podcast: Witness Preparation is Okay
Podcast: Bridging the Gap
Podcast - Rule 6: If You Don't Remember, Say So
Podcast - Rule 4: Be a Relentlessly Polite Witness
Podcast - Rule 2: Remember, You Are On The Record
Hearsay is an important legal concept that lawyers learn in law school. Under Federal Rule of Evidence 801, hearsay is an out-of-court statement offered for the truth of the matter asserted. Even many lawyers are often...more
Nearly 150 years after Miles Bartholomew introduced the first shorthand machine, the various technologies and tools utilized to record court proceedings and legal matters continue evolving. Today, realtime deposition...more
When preparing for trial, depositions play a foundational role, critical to the discovery phase. After the deposition, having a succinct, accurate deposition summary is a strategic component of developing and refining case...more
With the COVID pandemic, remote video depositions and trial testimony very quickly went from rare to routine. Remote testimony, for the most part, is viewed as a convenience to both witnesses and attorneys, and parties and...more
The testimony given at a deposition vs. testimony during a trial have a lot in common. They’re both sworn under oath, under penalty of perjury, and part of official court records. There’s a longer list, however, of how they...more
It is not uncommon in litigation for parties to introduce testimony through depositions taken for use at trial. It is very uncommon, though, for a party to request to use their own deposition testimony as their trial...more
Though typically conducted in a conference room, a deposition can take place in many locations and through a variety of methods. So long as you capture a verbatim record, either face-to-face or remotely through the use of...more
If you have been to a deposition, you have heard both improper questions and improper objections. Rarely, however, do court opinions or rules focus on whether counsel’s behavior violated the Rules of Professional Conduct. I...more
The lines between witness preparation and improper coaching are gray. According to the ABA, “[T]he task of delineating what is necessary and proper and what is ethically prohibited during witness preparation has become more...more
The most famous quote attributed to arguably the greatest military leader of all time, Napoleon Buonaparte, was “(N)ever interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.” Napoleon had many faults, but his ability to see the...more
Broadly speaking, most personal injury claims survive the death of the plaintiff. They live on as survivor’s actions or wrongful death claims brought by representatives of the deceased plaintiff’s estate....more
30(B)(6) Preparation Tips - If you have ever said “that rule may make sense in theory, but it does not work in real life,” you may also have spent weeks futilely attempting to prepare a witness to serve as a corporate...more
Legal AI can help litigators gain a real competitive advantage in depositions - In litigation, depositions are a crucial part of discovery. It’s an opportunity to elicit testimony from a witness—testimony the outcome of a...more
After the COVID-19 pandemic shook the world in early 2020, many industries pivoted to conducting business in ways that reduced or eliminated face-to-face interactions. Fortunately, with internet capability generally...more
The number of remote legal proceedings hit a peak a few years back, but the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency doesn’t mean a reversal to pre-pandemic logistics. While they can have some drawbacks, virtual...more
No other pretrial discovery process rivals the deposition for its ability to alter the course of civil litigation. Depositions alone bring litigators face-to-face with key witnesses, experts, and the parties themselves in a...more
Three state legislatures — Texas, Massachusetts, and Missouri — are considering legislation this year to adopt the Uniform Interstate Depositions and Discovery Act, a law that creates a standardized and efficient procedure to...more
A prior blog post discussing effective cross-examination of expert witnesses during a deposition noted that litigators have an important decision to make when favorable, but unexpected, testimony is extracted from a...more
Most litigators have at least a passing familiarity with the "sham affidavit" doctrine, under which an affidavit submitted in opposition to summary judgment that without explanation flatly contradicts the affiant's prior...more
The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure liberally enable parties to seek relevant information in discovery that may be helpful in the preparation and trial of a case. While the liberal scope of discovery permitted by the...more
It’s a situation anyone would dread—you just learned that you must give a deposition for your employer. Perhaps you received a subpoena, or maybe your employers’ in-house or outside counsel shared the bad news. You are...more
We reported back in December [California Supreme Court Set to Decide How Defense Counsel Approach Defending Company Witness Depositions] on a case then pending before the California Supreme Court, Berroteran v. Superior...more
On March 7, 2022, the Supreme Court of California published a unanimous decision regarding the hearsay exception discussed in Evidence Code section 1291, subdivision (a)(2) (“section 1291(a)(2)”) concerning testimony taken in...more
The ITC recently issued an order rescheduling a hearing from June 22, 2020 to July 20, 2020 and extending the target date for completion of the corresponding investigation to March 5, 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic....more
Recently, United States federal courts have been more frequently approving the extra-territorial collection of testimony for use in criminal trials to be held in the United States. While the collection of such testimony for...more