Plaintiff Trial Lawyer Tips

Opening statements are very important because they create the general jury impression of the case. Once formed, impressions are very difficult to change. Therefore, it is important to make a powerful impression in the opening statement. Here is an example of the damages from the opening statement I made in a jury case using PowerPoint and a short video. Plaintiff was injured when replacing a billboard sign and the metal pole he was using contacted the overhead power line at…

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It is important to be prepared for new client interviews. If you don’t have a check list or an interview form you may forget to ask important questions or get the information you need. In addition, after you accept a case and spend time working on it, you are subject to changing  your initial impression of the client and your evaluation of the time. It is helpful to have a record of your first impressions and evaluation. Here is an…

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What are the goals for  cross examination? As a generalization they might be summarized as was done by Paul Stritmatter in his article Conducting Cross-Examinations https://www.plaintiffmagazine.com/recent-issues/item/conducting-cross-examinations  Paul wrote: “Wigmore said that the goal of cross-examination should be to “soften the impact of a witness by confrontation.” Persuading the fact finder by softening the impact of the witness may take many forms, including: Forcing the witness to admit certain facts or agree with certain basic principles; •  Destroying all or a…

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