Plaintiff Trial Lawyer Tips

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…

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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…

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THE FIVE STEPS OF PREPARATION FOR CROSS EXAMINATION Great cross examination requires hard work in preparation. It should not be done "off the cuff." So, what are the steps of preparation? I suggest that your preparation for cross examination should involve these five fundamental steps: 1. Determine the goals. What is you want to accomplish with this specific witness? What testimony the witness will offer can be used to achieve a specific goal that supports your case or undermines the…

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