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Month: November 2016

TEN RULES FOR IMPROVING JURY VERDICT OUTCOMES

TEN RULES FOR IMPROVING JURY VERDICT OUTCOMES

  Screen all new cases objectively and not emotionally. There are cases where the inherent issues are so negatively compelling and your odds of prevailing so slight it is a disservice to the client and the system to accept the case. Your decision of whether to carry the case forward should be objective and not emotional based upon evaluation of the liability, the extent of damages and the ability to collect damages. Identify the controlling issues. You must objectively identify…

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DIRECT EXAM OF A CLIENT WITH A BRAIN INJURY

DIRECT EXAM OF A CLIENT WITH A BRAIN INJURY

When we represent people with brain injury it  takes a lot of time, factual inquiry and thought in deciding how to present the damage evidence at trial. The most difficult  question is what to ask a client who is capable of testifying. In general, my belief was that with major injury cases “less was more” because major injuries generally speak for themselves  and don’t need a lot of detail which might make jurors feel you are playing for their sympathy. Once…

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PRINCIPLES OF A GREAT TRIAL

PRINCIPLES OF A GREAT TRIAL

Jim Perdue Sr is a Texas trial lawyer who has a fifty year history of great plaintiff trial work. We are friends through our membership in the Inner Circle of Advocates. He has published books, videos and articles about trial work and is a national lecturer on the subject. He is also  an adjunct professor at the University of Houston Law Center as a lecture on trial skills. I’d like to share some brief points about  communication from one  his…

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