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Author: Paul Luvera

Luvera practiced plaintiff law 55 years. He is past President of the Inner Circle of Advocates & Washington State Trial Lawyers Association. Member ABOTA, American College of Trial Lawyers, International Academy, International Society of Barristers and the American Trial Lawyers Hall of Fame. Book Luvera on Advocacy available at Trial Guides Publishing Email paul@luvera.org
REMEMBER TO CONSIDER USING THE BASICS OF SAFETY IN CROSS

REMEMBER TO CONSIDER USING THE BASICS OF SAFETY IN CROSS

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Have you ever thought about the fundamdentals of safety as a cross  examination area in the right case? Sometimes the simple safety standards can be the best cross examination for a particular witness. Especially one that wants to argue about the obvious. Here is an excerpt from part of such an cross exam to give you an idea of what I mean. ELIMINATING OR MINIMIZING RISK OF SERIOUS INJURY OR DEATH1. TRUE THAT TEXACO SHOULD HOLD PARAMOUNT THE SAFETY AND…

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THE 80/20 RULE APPLIES TO JURY SELECTION AS WELL AS POLITICS

THE 80/20 RULE APPLIES TO JURY SELECTION AS WELL AS POLITICS

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Sheryl Gay Stolberg wrote in last Sunday’s New  York Times about the Congressional hearings involving appointee Elizabeth Warren to head up the consumer protection agency. Warren is a Harvard law professor who exhibited a lot more courage then any other recent appointees by not taking bullying from Republican committee members and member Patrick McHenry a North Carolina Republican, in particular. The Republican committee members had already made it clear they had no intention of voting in her favor. When McHenry continued…

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HOW TO ADMIT YOU WERE WRONG & ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY

HOW TO ADMIT YOU WERE WRONG & ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY

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Recently I read a short article by Annie Mueller about fixing mistakes.(wisebread.com) She  advocated a seven step process for dealing with mistakes. As I read the article I thought about admitted liability cases where the defense admits fault in an effort to minimize the verdict through excluding evidence of fault. In a state like Washington where we have no punitive damages, that means zero information is allowed about the negligent conduct. Of course, the defendant still is in a state…

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