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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
Cross examination principles

Cross examination principles

BASIC CROSS EXAMINATION PRINCIPLES There are some fundamental principles of cross examination that should be observed in most situations. These include the following: Make big points and ignore the details There is nothing more boring that a detailed, technical minute point by technical point in cross examination. Make your point a broad one without a lot of irrelevant details. Stick with big obvious points that the jury will see and understand without having to follow a lot of detailed information….

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The art of persuasion

The art of persuasion

While we were in Costa Rica I had time to read some books. A couple of them had helpful information for trial lawyers. Here’s a passage from the book Born standing up: A comic’s Life by Steve Martin about the subject of anchoring. I’ve written about this important idea previously in this blog, but I hadn’t realized that comics use the technique to coax a laugh out of an audience.: “A skillful comedian could coax a laugh with tiny indicators…

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Be a spectatus

Be a spectatus

Trial lawyers have to be risk takers if they are going to be great trial lawyers. It can sometimes be frightening and intimidating. How we react to our fears determines how well we represent our clients. In the book The Airmen and the Headhunters author Judith Heimann quotes a pilot of a bomber shot down in World War II as saying that during dangerous flying missions he had often been frightened. But he went on to say: "provided you don’t…

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