Plaintiff Trial Lawyer Tips

Niccolo di Bernardo dei Machiavelli was born in Florence in 1469 and became a figure of the Italian Renaissance. His writings included political theory and he wrote a pamphlet The Prince which he hoped would help him gain influence with the ruling Medici family of Florence. The well known writing has a chapter he titled "Cruelty and Compassion. Whether it is better to be loved than feared, or the reverse." Here is a sampling of his answer. He advised that…

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The National Law Journal (June 16, 2008) in an article by reporter Tresa Baldas, reports an increasing number of cases where judges restrict the use of certain words in criminal prosecutions. The article Hot-button words are iced in court says that a steadily increasing number of courts across the United States are prohibiting witnesses and victims from saying certain words in front of the jury such as "rape" or "victim" or even "crime scene." In white collar criminal cases words…

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Clarence Darrow was comfortable using poetry in his arguments. He, like most other lawyers of that period, could quote literature, scripture and poetry as part of their trial skills. On July 21, 1924, the case of The People against Nathan Leopold, Jr., and Richard Loeb was heard in Detroit. Here’s one of the poems Darrow quoted in theirdefense by A.E. Housman (1859-1936) from A Shropshire Lad: "Now hollow fires burn out to black, And lights are guttering low: Square your…

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