Plaintiff Trial Lawyer Tips

VOIR DIRE WHEN THE TIME IS LIMITED

January 5, 2015 Paul Luvera Comments 0 Comment

I have taught at the Spence Trial College and written in this blog about the approach Gerry Spence advocates in jury selection. https://plaintifftriallawyertips.com/gerry-spence-voir-dire-questions It can be roughly summarized as focused on building rapport through open, nonjudgmental discussion. It is not closed ended questions intended to dictate ideas. They focus on how the juror feels about subjects after he has first shared how he feels. Here is an example from Spence’s last civil case in Iowa: Now let me ask you…

A CROSS EXAMINATION SUGGESTION

December 27, 2014 Paul Luvera Comments 0 Comment

We all have our own way of preparing for cross examination and for the style we adopt during the process. I thought I’d reprint a section of part of a cross examination preparation from a drug company products case to give you an general idea of one of the steps I take in preparing for cross examination. This would represent part of a whole examination and would be part of the preparation. The actual cross examination could end up in outline…

WU WEI & LESSONS FROM POLITICS

December 19, 2014 Paul Luvera Comments 0 Comment

WE NEED WU WEI Wu wei pronounced “ooo-way” is the Chinese term for what we might call “effortless action.” Dr. Slingerland a professor of Asian studies at the University of British Columbia has written a book “Trying not to Try: The Art and Science of Spontaneity” which explores this ancient Chinese concept. The whole concept has very broad application, but my interest was in how it applies to us in trying lawsuits. We all would like to not be self-conscious…