What to do When You Don’t Have a Witness
It’s one of the worst feelings in the world… You’ve finished your re-direct examination, and the witness is stepping down from the witness stand to walk out of the courtroom. Then the judge turns to you and says, "Call your next witness." Your stomach tightens and your palms start to sweat as you realize: You don’t have anyone waiting in the hall. Maybe your witness’s testimony went faster than expected, maybe your opponent did a lousy job of...
Read MoreCross-Examination Tips from Cheaters
I’ve got a confession to make. It’s embarrassing, but one of my guilty pleasure is to watch the reality TV show, Cheaters. Cheaters is one of those stupid TV shows that hooks you with the human drama and won’t let you go, even though you’re embarrassed to tell your friends that you watched it. Sure, it’s trash TV, but it’s also watched by nearly 2 million people every week, especially 18-34 year olds, many of whom will get called to jury duty. And since good trial lawyers...
Read MoreWhy You Can’t Poison a Jury Panel
When I speak to law school students about how to successfully try cases, they usually have lots of questions. One of the most common questions I’m asked is, “What should you do when a juror gives you a bad answer?” Usually, I’ll pause for a moment before replying, because the question perplexes me. Typically, my response is something along the lines of, “I don’t know what you mean — there’s no such thing as a ‘bad answer’ during jury...
Read MoreDon’t Think About a Purple Elephant!
There’s something strange about how our brains work. For some reason, our brains don’t seem to comprehend the word “Don’t” very well. In fact, our brains have the power to completely ignore that single word while still hearing every other word in the statement. It happens on a subconscious level. When we hear the word “Don’t,” we ignore that word and follow the rest of the command. If you’ve ever coached sports, you probably noticed the difference between telling an...
Read MoreResources for Trial Lawyers
