Should You Call the Witness a “Liar”?
Have you ever dreamt of conducting a “perfect” impeachment during cross-examination? You know, the type of cross-examination that usually only happens in the movies, impeaching the witness by pinning down their in-court testimony, and then calling them a “liar” when you confront them with undisputed proof that shows their statement is false? Almost every lawyer I know salivates at the prospect of impeaching a witness like that. But before you start calling the witness a...
Read MoreSources for Closing Argument Stories
During closing argument, you want to drive your arguments home to the jury. It’s not persuasive to merely say, “The witness is wrong because she’s biased.” You need to be able to help the jurors understand how that bias affected her testimony and why they shouldn’t believe her. Before you start preparing your next closing argument, start collecting the stories and analogies that will help you persuade the jurors. Here are nine resources to help you develop persuasive closing...
Read MoreEliminate tag lines during cross-examination
Done well, cross-examination should sound like a well-told story, occasionally interrupted by the witness agreeing with your cross-examination questions. In this trial advocacy article, you’ll learn a simple cross-examination technique for simplifying your cross-exam question and improving the quality of your presentation. The primary difference between direct examination and cross-examination is who testifies. During direct examination, the lawyer asks open-ended questions and lets the witness do all...
Read MoreThe Trial Lawyer’s Library
When I began my career as a trial lawyer, I had no idea what books I was supposed to read. There were hundreds of thousands of books in my law school library, but I wasn’t sure which ones were most important to developing my trial advocacy skills. I read thousands of thousands of pages, looking for the best trial advocacy tips and techniques, and wasted a lot of time, energy, and money in the process. Hopefully, this list will help you shortcut the process that I went through. In this article,...
Read MoreResources for Trial Lawyers
