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
Witnesses, I’d like to have a word. You know the most important audience for your testimony — the jurors in the courtroom with you, or the future jury who might someday see a clip of your deposition? That audience is kind of...more
I recently visited one of the Meow Wolf locations, and my feelings about the immersive art installation tracked with the typical reactions: As vivid as the pictures are, they still don’t do it justice, and you have to be...more
A seasoned trial lawyer stands in front of the jury, previews the critical argument, and then, making knowing eye contact with the jury, adds, “Now, you might be thinking…” before spelling out and then responding to a key...more
It has been a rough couple of years for science. Our newly-unmasked population seems to be more divided than ever about our ability to rely on science in applying systematic and neutral procedures in order to find reliable...more
It’s America’s case of the moment: Johnny Depp and Amber Heard, Hollywood’s former power-couple, now exchanging accusations of physical abuse in a Fairfax, Virginia courtroom. The defamation case initially brought by Depp has...more
The reserved opening statement is a strategy that, in all my years helping in the courtroom, I have never seen applied. In theory, a defendant typically has the right to wait until the plaintiff or the state has put on its...more
You have your witness on the stand in direct examination. You have finished laying out the positive story that you want to tell, but you have one more thing to do before handing that witness over to the other side...more
For those trained in the sciences, relying on illustrations or examples is not considered nearly as good as relying on data. If they call something “anecdotal,” then there is a good chance that the word “merely….” precedes...more
Experienced trial lawyers know it is important that their witnesses are prepared to testify. At the deposition stage, and even when the likelihood of a trial is uncertain, it is critical to invest the time in making sure that...more
Even if the pandemic is finally over, and even if it is the last pandemic we will ever experience — and both of those seem pretty optimistic — it is still worthwhile to study and to learn from the unprecedented adaptations we...more
There was the childhood spent being a good student, then the hard years of college, and the even harder years of medical school, then residency, then years of building your expertise and your practice. Then came the event...more
Imagine you’re currently a citizen of the Russian Federation. The telephone rings, and the person on the other end of the line identifies themselves as a public opinion researcher, and they’re conducting a poll. “How do you...more
When a juror looks at an act and declares it to be bad or good, where is that coming from? Well, hopefully, it is coming from the evidence. But inevitably, it is also coming from that juror’s own habits of moral judgment. And...more
As you are putting on your case at trial, and you go to call your next witness, there’s always a reaction from the jury box. It’s an opportunity for fresh attention from them, but it is often a bit of a mystery...more
When thinking about the title for this post, I came awfully close to saying that certainty “matters more” than accuracy, but I thought that perhaps it might sound too cynical. But that stronger version is supported by the...more
If you remember even a few images from kindergarten, you probably remember the time when your teachers would lay out the mats — that was the cue that it is naptime. One might say that the similar cue in a courtroom is when...more
Once the cases are both in, the witnesses are all examined and, the evidence is before the jury, it is time to close, and for many attorneys, that means ramping up the emotion in order to commit jurors to your position. The...more
It sometimes happens in the course of testimony: After what might have been a longer or misdirected answer, the witness will receive a stern admonition from either the questioning attorney, or worse, the judge...more
Lawyers are notorious for using language that carries some comprehension challenges. When this “legalese” is directed to and understood by other lawyers, that use can be understandable, even if it is still annoying. But when...more
Maybe it is because monitors are a lot less expensive than they used to be, but I’m seeing more and more of them cropping up, often in the same places. Conference rooms or spaces for larger presentations that used to have a...more
Like the continuing need to have a ‘pocket mask’ in many places, the online judicial meeting or hearing has become an accepted fact of almost-post-pandemic life. But, chances are, the remote hearing will last longer (knock on...more
The instructions for jurors are clear: They are to take an issue that has no effect on them, listen dispassionately to the evidence and arguments, apply the facts to the law, and make a decision. That is the model, but in...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
As courts continue their uncertain transition from a Covid to a post-Covid stance, the word from many is that the Zoom hearing is the pandemic adaptation that is most likely to become a normal feature of litigation going...more