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Podcast - “I Lied Like a Dog!”
Podcast - "Ready for Trial?"
Podcast - Every Case Is a New World
The 3 Core Themes of Trial Law: Tell Your Story
Podcast - Getting Dressed for Court
Podcast - The Witness Outline
Cross-Examination: The Three C’s of Impeachment
Cross-Examination: How to Effectively Impeach with a Prior Inconsistent Statement
Podcast - Cross-Examination: Don't Argue - Elicit Facts
Podcast - Direct Examination: Getting Rid of Clutter
The Basics of Opening Statements
Exuding Credibility in the Courtroom
Bar Exam Toolbox Podcast Episode 233: Listen and Learn -- Impeachment (Part 2)
The Strategic Advantages of Working with Jury Consultants – IMS Insights Podcast Episode 56
Witness Testimony Themes, Cross Examination, & Preparation Consultants – IMS Insights Podcast Episode 55
Witness Prep Goals, Credibility Factors, & Juror Comprehension – IMS Insights Podcast Episode 54
Podcast - Finding the Balance
Podcast - A Tortured Journey with the Lying Witness
Live Trials During the COVID-19 Pandemic: What’s Changed?
Of all the challenges inherent in discovery, case strategizing, and trial preparation, a missing witness or other key person may pose the most frustration. Most individuals can be located easily at their place of residence or...more
New York’s Commercial Division has long prided itself on adopting practices and procedures similar to the federal courts. A recent amendment to its rules takes a further step in that direction by mandating initial disclosures...more
As a litigator, I routinely prepare clients for depositions. A deposition is a pre-trial procedure where a party or witness in a legal case provides sworn testimony outside of a courtroom. A lawyer asks questions of the...more
In Hall v. Baltimore Police Dept., 2025 WL 1548560 (D. Md. May 30, 2025)(Austin, J.), the Court considered whether materials created many years after the underlying incident were protected under the work-product doctrine. The...more
The blog post Turning Deposition No-Shows to the Client’s Advantage proved popular with our readers when written (2021!) and for years afterward. The sustained readership of that article is gratifying but also disappointing...more
It’s a common practice during a deposition for lawyers to assert legal objections to witness testimony but then allow the deposition to proceed. In fact, this practice is broadly encouraged. Depositions are wide-ranging...more
The receipt of a notice for a client’s deposition usually sets off a chain reaction of familiar events in most law offices across the country. The deposition is calendared. Materials requested in the notice or accompanying...more
In Reddick v. State, __ Md. App __, 2024 WL 4633506 (Apls. Ct. Md. Oct. 31, 2024), the intermediate appellate court addressed an important issue of authentication of surveillance video by a lay witness. That witness was...more
Under CPLR §§ 3111 and 3122(d), “[t]he reasonable production expenses of a non-party witness shall be defrayed by the party seeking discovery.” The Commercial Division Rules at Appendix A (“Guidelines for the Discovery of...more
Legal discovery often comprises the longest stage of casework—identifying evidence, developing timelines, and vetting witnesses. The facts, strengths, and weaknesses of a case provide puzzle pieces that attorneys identify and...more
In civil litigation, depositions are a key pretrial discovery tool used to uncover facts, obtain admissions, gather evidence for motions, and assess witnesses. They prevent “trial by ambush” by revealing crucial information...more
In a commercial dispute involving allegations against a manufacturing plant, plaintiff’s counsel was cross-examining a plant manager....more
When preparing for trial, depositions play a foundational role, critical to the discovery phase. After the deposition, having a succinct, accurate deposition summary is a strategic component of developing and refining case...more
I have posted five blogs – – with links below – – on In Re: Social Media Adolescent Addiction/Personal Injury Products Liability Litigation, 2024 WL 1786293 (N.D. Cal. Feb. 20, 2024), subsequent opinion, 2024 WL 1808607 (N.D....more
The testimony given at a deposition vs. testimony during a trial have a lot in common. They’re both sworn under oath, under penalty of perjury, and part of official court records. There’s a longer list, however, of how they...more
The discovery phase is often the most critical component of legal work, leading 95% of civil cases to a settlement negotiation instead of a courtroom trial. Given this, how information is collected from potential witnesses is...more
There’s no denying it—artificial intelligence is changing the legal landscape. Generative AI and the use of machine learning promise to boost efficiency and reduce prep time through multiple phases of litigation. For...more
Dismissal of a lawsuit is a rare sanction for a discovery violation, but it happened recently in a workplace discrimination lawsuit, due in large part to two probing depositions that called into question one party’s assertion...more
If we can do weddings, funerals, healthcare, work, and trials via videoconference, surely we can do the same with depositions. And with that closing remark, a federal magistrate judge summarily dispatched one litigant’s...more
Broadly speaking, most personal injury claims survive the death of the plaintiff. They live on as survivor’s actions or wrongful death claims brought by representatives of the deceased plaintiff’s estate....more
Can a witness authenticate a video if the video contains images that the witness did not see? In Md. Supreme Court to rule on Baltimore criminal case involving video authentication – Maryland Daily Record...more
Corporate defendants are frequently faced with a quandary—is the company’s highly sophisticated professional employee simply a fact witness or does their anticipated testimony propel them into the world of expert discovery?...more
Parties in California state court employment lawsuits and other actions may now deploy a potent new discovery tool. New demands for disclosure may be used in employment litigation and other lawsuits, with exceptions, filed in...more
In Client escapes sanction for lawyer’s refusal to appear on camera in Zoom deposition (abajournal.com)(Jan. 25, 2024,), Debra C. Weiss reported on Agnone v. Agnone, 2024 WL 242488 (Cal. App., 2d Dist., Jan. 23,...more
In Hernandez v. La Fortaleza, Inc., 2024 WL 65217 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. Jan. 5, 2024)(per curiam), plaintiffs’ slip and fall claim was dismissed with prejudice, and attorneys’ fees were also awarded, due to improper...more