Trial Skills Archive

Tips from the Trenches »

Reining in E-Discovery

Electronic discovery is more important than ever, but receiving a request for ESI does not necessarily condemn a client to an expensive hunt through long-abandoned formats.

Exonerating Your Client Before Indictment

Your job is to get out in front of the events and convince the prosecutor not to bring a charge.

Making the Best of a Bad Situation: Grand Jury Representations

Mishandling the response to a grand jury subpoena can be disastrous for the client.

Evidentiary Surprises and Ethical Dilemmas

Fulfill your duties to your client and meet your obligations as an officer of the court.

A Comment on "Streetwise Litigation"—Unwise Advice for Trial Lawyers

The true basis for a verdict is the hearts and minds of the jury.

No, They Really Don’t Like Us

Tips on how lawyers can change negative behavior patterns and transform their reputations in the public eye.

Surviving Yourself

Tips on how to be a better lawyer and how to survive the practice of law by first surviving yourself.

Rule 16, the Litigator’s Forgotten Ally

If used properly, the court’s discretion under Rule 16 can further your goals in the case.

The Evidence Rules Every New Trial Lawyer Should Know

An analysis providing you with the ability to use the rules to your advantage.

Preparing for Battle: Managing the Mega-Case Litigation Team

The supersized litigation team presents immense management challenges.

A Judge’s Guide to Protecting Your Reputation

Create a good reputation by blending talent, intelligence, competence, and integrity.

Building Your Case for the Jury

It is important to believe that you play a role in how a jury trial comes out; using these tools and techniques can help.

Reversing the Magistrate Judge

What do you do when you are on the losing side of a decision made by a magistrate judge?

Persuading Courts to Impose Sanctions

Federal sanctions law is a tangled web; each rule covers a limited sphere of conduct and has unique requirements.

Ethical Considerations for Promoting Your Practice Online

Promotion is difficult when ethical codes of conduct haven't kept up with the evolution of online technology.

Overcoming Judicial Bias

Remain a professional, act with dignity, learn from your losses, and eventually you will overcome judicial bias.

How to Be a Great Law Clerk

Make a substantial contribution to a judge’s success by delivering an accurate, well-balanced, complete, and timely product.

Starting a Litigation Boutique

Client-centered nature of the boutique environment has many advantages over large firms.

Tax Tenets for Trial Lawyers

Rules every litigator should observe regarding tax issues.

The Standard of “Reasonable Certainty” Proves Lost Profits

Economic and financial data and expert opinion have made it easier to meet the requirement of certainty.

Finding the Greener Grass—The Ins and Outs of Going In-House

Think carefully about your own needs, likes, and dislikes before deciding to move in-house.

How to Get Clients to Eat Their Spinach

Learning to give advice that can be heard, understood, and followed is of critical importance.

How College Football Has Made Me a Better Lawyer

The same principles that carry teams to a winning season make us better lawyers.

Ten Things Your Expert Neglected to Tell You

No attorney wants to hear his expert assert his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

Ten Practical Tips for Making Your Case Appealable

In the heat of a trial, it can be hard to remember that the war may not end with the trial court’s judgment.

Wrestling with the Judge Who Wants You to Settle

Sorting through juror opinions and beliefs is one of the lawyer's most difficult challenges.

Considerations for Determining When to File a Summary Judgment Motion

Despite a lack of sexiness, the summary judgment motion is a critical weapon in the arsenal.

Selecting a Jury of Cynics, Believers, and Others

Sorting through juror opinions and beliefs is one of the lawyer's most difficult challenges.

Ten Tips for Making Your Case Appealable

Common sense and careful preparation are the keys to practicing the art of the blind cross.

Mastering the Blind Cross-Examination

Common sense and careful preparation are the keys to practicing the art of the blind cross.

Dealing with the Difficult Adversary

Preparation, understanding of adversaries are keys to avoiding or ending disputes with opposing counsel.

Weathering the Storm

Annals are filled with cases won by lawyers who creatively responded to and surmounted bad developments beyond their initial control.

Narrative, the Essential Trial Strategy

What happens in between “Once upon a time” and “The end”?

Copyright Claims: Not Just for Artists Anymore

Creative approach to copyright offers expanded benefit for clients.

Managing Client Expectations

With nearly all civil cases ending in settlement, parties must consider how to maximize efforts in judicial settlement conferences.

alternative dispute resolution »

Should Your Firm’s Engagement Letter Contain an Arbitration Clause?

Arbitration is favorable where both parties hope to preserve privacy, time, and resources.

Who Decides Whether an Arbitration Agreement Is Unconscionable?

High Court set to resolve who determines the unconscionability arbitration agreements.

Federal Question Jurisdiction Raised Only in Counterclaims

Supreme Court settles long-standing controversy over federal court compulsion of arbitration.

Appellate Practice »

Effective Appellate Brief Writing

Brief writers must be aware of the limits of understanding, concerns of appellate judges.

Oral Argument for Young Lawyers

A good appellate attorney needs a set of skils different from those required for trial lawyers.

New Federal Rules Will Govern Indicative Rulings

District courts will be unable to deny a Rule 60(b) motion while an appeal is pending.

Amendments to the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure

Fourth amemdment dealing with amicus curiae briefs may generate controversy.

Pretrial practice & discovery »

Revised Deadlines in the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure

Primary changes relate to the manner in which deadlines are calculated under the rules.

Model Rule 1.10: Imputation of Conflicts and Private Law Firm Screening

The rules have changed for lawyers who change firms.

Ashcroft v. Iqbal: New Pleading Standards and Motions to Dismiss

High Court revisits unresolved issues raised by Twombly.

Strategic Motions to Dismiss (or Lack Thereof)

Each case requires careful planning and strategizing before a move to dismiss.

Fundamentals of Discovery Motion Practice

Court cure for discovery disputes includes research, preparation, and dose of common sense.

Second Chair

Preparing for Your First Civil Trial, Part Six: Witness Preparation

No doubt about it: Cases are won or lost in witness preparation.

Preparing for Your First Civil Trial, Part Five: The Court and the Judge

The move to the real court carries a host of issues that first timers must keep track of.

Preparing for Your First Civil Trial, Part Four: Task Lists and Trial Outlines

Task lists and trial outlines are critical, regardless of case complexity.

Preparing for Your First Civil Trial, Part Three: Meeting the Judge

Meeting your judge for the first time requries attention to manners and being a good listener.

Preparing for Your First Civil Trial, Part Two: Depositions

Trial themes, strategies are critical to deciding whom to depose and what to ask.

Preparing for Your First Civil Trial, Part One: Where and How to Begin

Every case should be thought of as a trial case; preparation begins on day one.

Leveraging Your Jurors’ Self Interest

Even when they try to be impartial, jurors cannot divorce their values and interests from the outcome of your case.

Technology for the Litigator »

Regulating Cell Phones in the Courtroom

How should one of the biggest distractions in today's courtrooms be policed?

Trial Evidence »

District Courts Extend Twombly to Affirmative Defenses

History of the Federal Rules of Evidence

This year marks the 35th anniversary of the Federal Rules of Evidence.

What's Wrong with Hearsay?

Ask two trial lawyers about how they view the hearsay rule, and you’re likely to get two different responses, depending on their personal experiences in trial.

Proposed Amendments to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26

Rule 26(a)’s broad mandate to produce all data considered by the expert proves more of a burden than an aid.

An Overlooked Hearsay Exception Proves Positive

Negative evidence can be a persuasive means of proving diligence and reliability in your case.

Identifying, Addressing, and Preserving Evidentiary Issues

Evidentiary issues require the earliest possible detection.

Using an Expert Witness as a Landmine

Pineda v. Ford Motor Company decision could be trouble for lawyers facing off against expert witnesses.

A Video Deposition How To

Use of video at various stages of trial presents unique challenges, opportunities.

Trial Practice »

Twelve Angry Tweeters: The Effect of Twitter on the Jury System

Juries, clients, judges, and trial lawyers spend time tweeting in the courtroom.

Shadow Juries: A Unique Advantage in Civil Trials

Shadow juries can be used to evaluate and modify trial strategies and anticipate reactions of real juries.

Persuasion Starts with Strategy

Experience can, at times, divert attention from trial strategy to the routine laundry list of litigation items that must be addressed.