Both the federal courts and Tennessee state courts have strict rules about the types of inquiry that can be made into a jury’s verdict. The general rules for impeaching a jury verdict are set forth in Rule 606(b) of the rules of both systems and in a relatively few number…
A motion in limine to prevent your adversary from performing magic tricks in closing argument? Read all about it here from the Litigation and Trial Blog.
How do you impeach by contradiction? The Federal Evidence Review Blog has a fine summary of a recent case from the Third Circuit that provides a “textbook example” of how one sets up an impeachment by contradiction and how the impeachment evidence comes before the jury even though it is not…
Paul Luvera has another great post on his outstanding blog, Plaintiff Trial Lawyer Tips. A sample: "Focusing on the bad conduct of the defendant shifts the availability bias and causes the defendant to be the subject to the greater weight of scrutiny instead of plaintiff. Start with defendant’s conduct." Enjoy.
Professionally speaking, it is hard to have a worse day than having a United States Supreme Court justice say this: " “I simply cannot follow your argument because I believe you have just made a statement to me that is utterly irrational.” That is what Justice Souter said to Jennifer…
Ten days or so ago I included a post from Paul Luvera’s blog about the importance of using checklists for taking the deposition of an eye witness. Here is another post from Paul. This time he is sharing a checklist on information you should share with your client about the trial…
Paul Luvera has offered-up a list of his talking points for trial, an example that can be applied to a myraid of cases. See them here.
The age old question: should I try it or accept the offer the defense has made? This article in the New York Times reports on an article that will appear in the September edition of the Journal of Empiral Legal Studies on the subject on settling cases. The article will…
Smart defense counsel admit liability in cases where liability cannot seriously be questioned. What will defense counsel do to hold the damages number down? Read about the strategy of one defense lawyer in this article – Defending the Damages-Only Case. The article is published in the Winter 2008 edition of Federation…
Thanks to Trial Ad Notes for telling me about the American Society of Trial Consultants website and, more importantly, about their electronic newsletter, The Jury Expert. The newsletter is published bimonthly. A subscription is free. You can download past issues here.