A few years ago I represented the children of a deceased father. His wife had been dead for several years before he died. A lawsuit was filed by a woman acquaintance against his estate. She claimed she was entitled to a large share of his estate on the basis of multiple claims including a promise to leave her money and other similar claims. She lost and eventually was required to pay my clients costs and attorney fees. I had a collection of notes on…
A trial lawyer friend recently called my attention to an article by attorney Michael R. Doyen in the ABA litigation section entitled On Breaking Commandments. http://www.abanet.org/litigation/journal/2008_spring.html Doyen, who is a Los Angeles trial lawyer, has written about Professor Irving Younger’s famous talk he gave many times about his ten commandments of cross examination. Younger was an well known national speaker on trial techniques and this particular talk was always well received when he gave it. I had the pleasure of…
Wigmore on Evidence was once the "Bible" on evidence and required reading in all major law schools. Wigmore once wrote that cross examination was : "…the greatest legal engine ever invented for the discovery of the truth." The right to face one’s accuser and to cross examine him or her has been a fundamental right in civilized societies for centuries. Here is an outline from an actual case I tried several years ago against the Texaco Refinery when a temporary…