I like to have a basic outline of ideas for cross examination that I can review at a glance. In addition, I often create a simple one page list of words, phrases or ideas that I might choose to use in cross. You shouldn’t be reading during your cross examination and you need to move with the flow of what is happening so these help lists have to be simple and brief. Here’s an example of a very simple outline from a case where the issues involved the failure…
Jim McElhaney has been writing about trial practice for as long as I remember and I’ve been reading what writes every since I discovered him. One of the only reasons I continue to belong to the American Bar Association is to get their journal and read his writing McElhaney on Litigation. I’ve always had Melvin Belli’s bias about the ABA. When they terminated his membership for some perceived infraction he said it was like being kicked out the Reader’s Digest Association….
I’ve often used the old school grading system in my trials in several ways. When I went to school the grades were A, B, C, D & F. Of course, there were grade variations such as B+ or B- as well, but those were the basic grades. I’ve used this as an analogy to the conduct of the defendant. "Should the defendant get a passing grade for their conduct? What grade does this defendant deserve for the effort made to…