In legal settings, the emphasis is often on the positive act of giving arguments and evidence for a given outcome: Share the proof and the reasons to believe, and let those appeals work their magic on your audience. But there...more
At this point, coronavirus precautions in America seem to be on the honor system. With the CDC’s new guidance last week indicating that fully vaccinated Americans could go without masking or distancing in most indoor and...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
With the extended pandemic restrictions and the resulting court backlogs across the country, we have moved tentatively into the world of online trials and hearings, with participants joining from different locations. In that...more
The idea is a merger of pop culture with academics. In pop culture, “truthiness” refers facetiously to the feeling of something being true, independent of its actual truth value (a term coined by late-night comedian, Stephen...more
A few years ago, I had the opportunity to attend every day of a civil trial, and then interview all of the jurors at the end of their service. I planned out a very comprehensive interview for each of them, including running...more
To many trial-watchers, a key moment in the recent trial of former Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin, for the murder of George Floyd, came during the testimony of Dr. Martin Tobin. This Chicago pulmonary physician, in...more
I write this blog principally for litigators, but sometimes it is worth remembering that transactional attorneys are also advocates who, depending on the circumstances, may also have persuasive goals. The point of seeking to...more
This past Tuesday afternoon, the verdict came in for the most closely watched trial in America right now. The Hennepin County jury found former Minneapolis Police officer Derek Chauvin guilty on all counts in the death of...more
In the lead-up to trial, a good trial lawyer has many checklists. Some deal with motions to the court. Some deal with disclosure deadlines, some with witness notifications. In this article, I would like to address the broader...more
The courtroom trial is one setting where lawyers feel they can sometimes dial up the dramatic delivery. In the hands of some, that liberty can lead to an overbearing style. One question with the newer Zoom environments is...more
We’ve all heard the standard language in drug commercials: After a string of increasingly dire warnings about risks and side effects (a list that seems to nearly always end in “death”), a cheery voice will urge you to, “Ask...more
“Looking back at this situation, what if anything would you do differently?” Witnesses can be asked that question in a variety of case types: medical malpractice, products liability, contract, fraud, and really anything that...more
At a recent meeting with a witness to prepare for deposition testimony, and after I told the witness (more than once) to keep their answers short and not to stray beyond the question when answering, the witness asked, “Could...more
“Seeing is believing,” and based on the social science, we tend to apply that adage even when the visual aid does not rationally add to the substantive proof. Visuals makes things easier to call to mind later (which makes...more
We know that movie viewers love a plot twist. A surprising turn of events can make a movie memorable, and in films like “The Usual Suspects,” or “The Sixth Sense,” your understanding and perspective on a story can suddenly...more
My daughter is a figure skater — the kind of skater who practices six days a week. Each one of the complex jumps that a skater executes involves dozens of fine-motor movements that need to be encoded into the skater’s muscle...more
During the ongoing pandemic, courts have been understandably reluctant to invite large numbers into their chambers for trial, and particularly for jury selection. That situation has driven renewed consideration of...more
The now one-year-old coronavirus pandemic has caused courtrooms across the country to move many of their functions, as well as some full jury trials, into an online space. On the wisdom of that move, there are broadly two...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
What drives the motivation to not just compensate but to punish? When it comes to considering the purpose and amount of legal damages, the defense will predictably want a jury that, if they get to that stage at all, is...more
How bad would it be if, after making it through a year of the pandemic with your health intact, you came down with the virus at the end: You almost got to the point of vaccination, only to become infected at the last moment....more
It has gone from being a surprising observation last spring to a daily truism at this point: Zoom fatigue is real. Now that we are engaged in regular meetings by video web-conferencing, we’ve come to fully grasp the reality...more
At this point, I will wager that we’ve all seen the hilarious video from the 394th Judicial District Court of Texas, where an attorney, unable to remove a filter that changes his face into a cat’s, nonetheless confirms that...more
We’ve now had quite some time to settle into the coronavirus and its social restrictions. If you are like me, you might have even developed a twitch every time you hear the phrase “New normal.” We know that we are living in...more