Winning Trial Advocacy Tips is back, this time with a post giving great suggestions on how to make sure your jury sees and hears your evidence. An excerpt: 1. How to guarantee that the jury hears every word of your recorded statement. As you start playing the audio recording, cup your…
In Goodyear Dunlap Tires Operations, S.A. v. Brown, No. 1076, 564 U.S. ____ (2011) the United States Supreme Court was confronted with the following question: "Are foreign subsidiaries of a United States parent corporation amenable to suit in state court on claims unrelated to any activity of the subsidiaries in the forum…
Many personal injury lawyers are looking for ways to improve access to data during voir dire. Here is an article that discusses the use of the IPad during jury selection. The article includes a video that reviews two software products for the IPad. The IPad is amazing but I don’t…
Jessica Brylo has written an very interesting article about obtaining services of trial consultants when money is tight. The article has a summary on the services that consultants provide and then offers suggestions about how to reduce the cost of the services while still have access to the expertise of…
The high court in West Virginia has refused to vacate legislation that placed a cap on damages for non-economic loss in medical negligence cases. In McDonald v. City Hospital, Inc., No. 35543 (W.Va. 6/22/2011) the court ruled that the West Virginia Constitution did not limit the power of the Legislature…
Ronald Miller has a fascinating post on his The Maryland Injury Lawyer Blog about the value of knee injury cases Here is an excerpt: According to a recent Jury Verdict Research study over the last ten years, the average verdict in a serious knee injury case is 359,149. The median knee…
Plaintiff Trial Lawyer Tips has this wonderful post on the injecting basic safety principles into cross-examination. An excerpt: ELIMINATING OR MINIMIZING RISK OF SERIOUS INJURY OR DEATH 1. TRUE THAT [defendant company] SHOULD HOLD PARAMOUNT THE SAFETY AND HEALTH OF IT’S WORKERS? 2. AGREE WITH THE PROPOSITION THAT: ANY…
Steve Frederick had trial consultant Becky Jones (of Modlin and Jones) share 10 tips on trial presentations. Here they are: Don’t ramble. Get to the point. Be concise. Don’t keep repeating what other witnesses have said. When every fact is repeated, no fact is important. Be assertive without being offensive…
When a new lawyer decided to try his first case by defending a man accused of murder, it is no surprise to any lawyer with a room-temperature IQ that things would not go well. At all. So, when a mistrial was declared in the case based on the lawyer’s ineptness,…
Here is a copy of the signed major tort reform legislation in Tennessee. The legislation changes venue rules, places caps on damages (compensatory and punitive), and changes the substantive law in products and consumer protection cases. More details later.