Key Discovery Points: ESI Protocol Objection Denial Party
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The Journey of Litigation
Podcast - Part II: The Do’s and Don’ts of Demonstratives
Podcast - Persistence and Determination
Podcast - Part I - The Do’s and Don’ts of Demonstratives
Podcast - Walking Tall
Podcast - The Seeds of Corruption
Bar Exam Toolbox Podcast Episode 316: Spotlight on Torts (Part 1 – Negligence)
Podcast - How Do You Define Success?
Podcast - Seek Out Feedback
The Three C’s for Addressing Prior Inconsistent Statements
Podcast - Part II: Being an Expert Is a Lonely Business
Bar Exam Toolbox Podcast Episode 313: Spotlight on Criminal Law (Part 3)
Podcast - Part I: Being an Expert Is a Lonely Business
Podcast: Don't Just Say It – Show It
Podcast - Finding Common Ground
Law School Toolbox Podcast Episode 504: Listen and Learn -- Motions for Judgment as a Matter of Law and Motions for New Trial (Civ Pro)
Podcast - "Ready for Trial?"
Bar Exam Toolbox Podcast Episode 311: Spotlight on Criminal Law (Part 1)
The trial is over. The jury has spoken – or the judge has ruled – and the outcome wasn’t what you hoped. Now what? At that moment, many litigants turn to the idea of an appeal as a second chance, a do-over. It’s important...more
For high-stakes litigation, waiting until after an adverse verdict to engage appellate counsel can be a costly mistake. Traditionally, clients didn’t think about an investment in appellate counsel until after a final...more
Trial lawyers often think of appellate issues as something to deal with after the verdict. But by the time a case gets to appeal, much of the damage—or success—has already been baked into the record....more
I had the opportunity to spend two weeks in early March as appellate counsel at a hotly contested wrongful death trial. Seated next to lead trial counsel, I had a ringside seat where I could observe the jury minute by minute,...more
Parties must move for a directed verdict to preserve their right to request judgment notwithstanding the verdict (JNOV*) after an unfavorable verdict is returned. Friday’s batch of Supreme Court opinions includes a...more
I remember listening to Justice Frank Cleckley of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, my professor for Evidence, open his first lecture with a discussion of Federal Rule of Evidence 103. As a young law student, I was...more
Recent stats show an interesting trend in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit: oral arguments are held in just 13% of cases. This differs from other circuits like the D.C. Circuit, where almost 50% of cases get...more
Preparation is the key to winning at trial, and focus groups are a powerful tool for ensuring that a case is trial-ready. In this episode of the Texas Appellate Law Podcast, hosts Todd Smith and Jody Sanders visit with...more
As civil trials become more expensive and less frequent, proactive attorneys should look for ways to streamline or end their cases before trial. Luckily, both Texas statutes and court rules provide some helpful tools. In this...more
Suing the federal government can be a daunting task. In this episode, Todd Smith and Jody Sanders sit down with Tom Jacob, a partner at National Trial Law in Austin, Texas, to discuss the intricacies of litigating cases under...more
In this episode, seasoned appellate practitioner Scott Stolley sits down with Todd Smith and Jody Sanders to confront the issue of bullying in the legal profession. Scott explores the multifaceted nature of bullying, from...more
Few Texas judges have seen the courtroom from as many perspectives as Third Court of Appeals Justice Gisela Triana. From a practitioner, to a municipal judge, to a trial court judge on various benches, Justice Triana has...more
In many federal courts of appeals, the statement on oral argument occupies a prime position in a brief. It is often the first substantive statement a judge reads. Yet so few advocates use this valuable “real estate” to...more
In nearly all areas of the law, the parties’ submission of proposed orders to the trial court is a ubiquitous and long-standing practice. And for nearly just as long, the judiciary has recognized the significant due process...more
With a jury deliberating, there is nothing more exactingly scrutinized by trial lawyers than a written question emanating from the jury deliberation room to the trial judge. As the judge reads the question, the lawyers,...more
As an appellate lawyer with considerable experience in both state and federal appellate courts, I often receive calls from colleagues who are either in the midst of trying a case, or who have just received a decision or...more
Accordingly, we hold that the voluntary disclosure of a privileged attorney-client communication constitutes a waiver of the privilege as to all other communications concerning the same subject matter when the trial court...more
On September 2, 2020, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals issued its decision in Continental Vineyard, LLC v. Vinifera Wine Co., LLC, and adopted a new contemporaneous objection rule for the circuit in doing so. In this...more
When attorneys are living and breathing a case day after day, it can be hard for even the best trial teams to know whether their litigation strategies are as fail proof as they think they are. That’s why Rick Runkel, general...more
In September, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York implemented new statewide practices rules that apply in each of New York’s four judicial departments. ...more