Elliott Wilcox shares another great post from his Winning Trial Advocacy Tips blog. I know I rant and rave about how wonderful this blog is and I fear I may be accused of a man-crush on Elliott, a gentleman I have never spoken with, much less met. But there is…
Those of you over 30 will remember James Carville’s message to the Clinton campaign in 1992: "It’s about the economy, stupid." Well, trying cases is about persuading jurors to your client’s point of view. Sure, you must prove-each-element-of-your-cause-of-action-by-a-preponderance-of-the-evidence, but you must do so in a way that keeps the…
Paul Luvera does a nice job in this post hitting the high points of David Ball’s book Ball on Damages. An excerpt: [W]e must shed our law school training about advocacy and learn to present cases consistent with the way that people really make decisions. You were probably taught…
Some of you are a little young to remember Irving Younger, the great trial advocacy teacher. Professor Younger developed the "10 Commandments of Cross Examination" that were taught in trial advocacy programs across the country for many, many years. Experienced trial lawyers would take issue with some of Younger’s commandments, arguing…
Winning Trial Advocacy Tips is one of the best blogs for trial lawyers in the entire blogosphere. Elliott Wilcox repeatedly delivers useful, timely information of interest to those of us who try cases. I encourage you to add it to your regular reading list. Today, I share with you his…
I am an optimist. Nevertheless, I attempt to have a "Plan B" in the event things go wrong. For example, consider a case that Rebecca Blair and I tried a few years ago. We needed a computer in the courtroom. But because both of us have been around long…
The Winning Trial Advocacy Tips blog has a great post titled "Sources for Closing Argument Stories." The post identifies nine different sources for stories that can be used in closing arguments. Here is brief excerpt: 1. Aesop’s Fables. Aesop’s Fables contains dozens of valuable themes for use in your next trial.…