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The Illinois Trial Practice Blog

Tips and techniques for trial lawyers, whether plaintiff or defense
By Schaeffer & Lamere, P.C

Post Frequency: 10/day

Last Entry: November 19, 2009 at 15:22:28

Google at the Center of Dispute Between Two Wisconsin Firms

Posted on November 19, 2009
At Wisconsin Personal Injury Lawyers Blog, Frank Pasternak writes about "an interesting lawsuit among Wisconsin personal injury attorneys"-- Habush, Habush & Rottier, an old-guard Wisconsin personal injury law firm, is suing Cannon & Dunphy, another such firm for paying Google...

Beginning the Trial: What to Wear, What to Say

Posted on November 17, 2009
From Ron Miller at Maryland Injury Lawyer Blog, "Rolexes and Introductions"-- My style is conservative in that I wear ?please don?t notice my clothes one way or the other? attire. I would feel uncomfortable with a diamond hoop earring and...

A Plethora of Legal Writing Tips

Posted on November 12, 2009
Here are some tips you can find in the "legal writing" section of this weblog-- Stuck on the first draft? Try starting in the middle; Why your briefs are probably too long, and how to make them shorter; Improve your...

Book Recommendation: The View from the First Chair

Posted on November 10, 2009
In his book "The View from the First Chair: What Every Trial Lawyer Really Needs to Know," Martin L. Grayson defines a trial as follows-- [N]othing less than a six-dimensional merry-go-round-jigsaw-puzzle-demolition-derby all playing out in your mind while you sit...

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Getting the Complete Story from Your Client

Posted on November 05, 2009
Here's a tip from Ashley Lipson's Guerilla Discovery. To insure you're getting the full story from your client, try asking a question something like the following: I know that you've told me the truth and I believe you. But we...

Another Trial Tips Weblog

Posted on November 03, 2009
Some recent posts at TrialLawyerTips.com, which is primarily plaintiff-oriented: "Wrap Up Your Voir Dire With These Questions" "Blow Up and Use Your Verdict Form in Closing Argument" "During Closing Argument, Always Remind the Jury That This is Their Only Opportunity...

Motion Practice: Quit When You're Ahead

Posted on October 29, 2009
A good, and very true, reminder from Legal Blog Watch: "Rule 1: When the Judge Agrees With You, Stop Talking." Can you believe that some lawyers violate this rule? Most likely, they're not listening. See below, #3. Related posts: 1....

Improving Your Motions for Summary Judgment

Posted on October 27, 2009
Here are some tips for defense lawyers on summary judgment from Michael Reitzell?s: "Focus on the Material Facts for a Successful Motion for Summary Judgment" (pdf). Link from the (new) legal writer. Related posts: 1. "An Entertaining Discourse on Summary...

Jury Selection: a List of Rules

Posted on October 22, 2009
At Mark Bennett's Defending People, you'll find "Simple Rules for Better Jury Selection." The post is self-explanatory. Add it to your list of jury-selection references.

Views on Trial from a Veteran Trial Lawyer

Posted on October 20, 2009
On his weblog Plaintiff Trial Lawyer Tips, Paul Luvera has published a list of "personal views" about trials, titled "My General Views about Plaintiff Trial Work." Some of the questions that are answered in the post-- How a high-low agreement...

Metadata Update: Views from Around the U.S.

Posted on October 15, 2009
The ABA's Legal Technology Resource Center has published an article titled "Metadata Ethics Opinions Around the U.S." The jurisdictions included are-- Alabama Arizona Colorado Florida Maine Maryland New Hampshire New York Pennsylvania Vermont Washington, D...

Illinois: New Ethics Rules

Posted on October 13, 2009
From the Illinois Bar Journal: "Get Ready for Illinois? New Rules of Professional Conduct," by By Robert A. Creamer-- On July 1, the Illinois Supreme Court announced adoption of a new set of rules of professional conduct for Illinois lawyers...

Deposition Podcasts: Advanced Techniques

Posted on October 08, 2009
For free deposition advice, why not try my three podcasts on advanced deposition techniques? Originally posted Legal Underground, I'm reprising them here (yet again). Just follow the links-- Advanced Deposition Techniques #1: Five Tips for Asserting Control at Depositions Advanced...

A Digression for Law Students: Outlining and Exam-Taking

Posted on October 06, 2009
Even though I graduated from law school way back in 1990, the outline-making and exam-taking experience is something that is, unfortunately, impossible to forget. That's why I wanted to point out a few useful posts: "Outlining 101: On Figuring Out...

iPhone and Smartphone Apps for Lawyers: Update

Posted on October 01, 2009
From the ABA Journal: "70 Sizzling Apps Pump up your PC, PDA and smartphone with these lawyer-friendly favorites"-- Apps: It?s a little word for those mini-programs that can pay off big in productivity, knowledge or just plain fun. And they...

Getting Documents into Evidence at Trial: Basic Procedural Steps

Posted on September 29, 2009
In introducing documents at trial, there are four important hurdles to overcome--that is, four important questions to answer. Is the document authentic? Is the document relevant? Does the document violate the hearsay rule? Does the document violate the best-evidence rule?...

Cross-Examination: Some Representative Posts

Posted on September 24, 2009
Over the years, I've done almost fifty posts on cross-examination. The easiest way to find them is in the weblog's cross-examination category. Some representative posts: "Scott Turow's Five Essentials of Cross-Examination" "Cross-Examining by Body Language and Tone of Voice" "Cross-Examination...

Help for the Lawyers with Depression

Posted on September 22, 2009
Here's an off-topic post as a public service. Lawyers with Depression is a website "created for lawyers with depression by a lawyer with depression." Its founder, Daniel Lukasik, writes-- Since I launched [the site] two years ago, it has gotten...

Who's Reading Your Email? Whose Email Are You Reading?

Posted on September 17, 2009
If you work for a large organization, you might find this article a little creepy. "What your emails say about you: Our electronic trails are powerfully revealing ? for those who can decode them." Although the article has only a...

Next Year in My Deposition Book: Breach of Contract

Posted on September 15, 2009
The third yearly update to my book Deposition Checklists & Strategies is at the publisher, which means it's time to start on the next update. During the next year, I plan to write a new chapter, Breach of Contract, which...

Appellate Briefs: Examples

Posted on September 10, 2009
The task of writing legal documents is often easier if one seeks out examples to use as models. To this end, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals provides access to briefs on its website. Although you cannot search by topic,...

Illinois Lawyers: Can You List Your Specialties on LinkedIn?

Posted on September 08, 2009
In the LawPulse section of this month's Illinois Bar Journal, Helen Gunnarsson interviews experts about the ethics of listing specialties in a LinkedIn profile. There is a right way to do it. Read here: "Social media and legal ethics May...

The Art of the Reply Brief

Posted on September 03, 2009
At the (new) legal writer, Raymond Ward offers a "collection of articles on reply briefs" in response to a reader who complained in an email that "I have been unable to find any guidance with regard to developing an effective...

Interrogatories Before Depositions

Posted on September 01, 2009
Plaintiffs' lawyer Ron Miller has an informative post explaining why he serves interrogatories at the time he files a complaint, noting in part-- The advantage in first obtaining answers to interrogatories is that the answers should help the attorney determine...

Articles on Trial Style

Posted on August 27, 2009
There are a number of articles about interacting with juries from a trial consultancy firm called "Act of Communication." If you follow the link, you'll see a list of articles, including these: "In opening a case, grab the jurors' attention,"...

Book Recommendation: Consumer Class Actions

Posted on August 25, 2009
Over the years, I've owned a couple of different editions of Consumer Class Actions, from the National Consumer Law Center. Although geared towards plaintiffs, defense lawyers will find it useful too. It comes with a CD-ROM and a number of...

"Immunize" Your Demonstratives Before Using Them

Posted on August 20, 2009
You don't want to slow down a trial by being met with objections to your demonstrative exhibits. Here is how to "immunize" your demonstrative exhibits before using them in direct examination: Disclose your demonstratives to opposing counsel before trial; If...

Create Better Demonstrative Exhibits by Making Them Memorable

Posted on August 18, 2009
The key to a good demonstrative aid is making it memorable for the jury--especially since the jury will be unlikely to take the exhibit into the deliberation room at the end of trial. Try to involve as many senses as...

Videotaped Depositions Become More Common: A Developing Trend?

Posted on August 13, 2009
Are the lawyers who you work with expressing any of the following ideas-- A feeling that it's important to videotape all depositions of any witness an opponent might use at trial? Surprise that the lawyers' opponents are not videotaping depositions...

Legal Writing: Making the Complex, Simple

Posted on August 11, 2009
He wasn't a legal writer, but Raymond Carver had something important to say about expressing complex ideas in a simple manner: When something feels complex or complicated to you, write it out carefully and thoughtfully, several different times if necessary,...

Deposition Tip: Help with Sniffing Out the Liars

Posted on August 06, 2009
From Forbes: "How To Sniff Out A Liar," by Melanie Lindner-- While there is no surefire on-the-spot way to sniff out dissemblers, there are some helpful tactics for uncovering untruths. Liars often give short or one-word responses to questions, while...

Manage Your Law Firm "In the Cloud"

Posted on August 04, 2009
In his latest tech column in the ABA Journal, Dennis Kennedy lists some of the benefits of cloud computing: Lower cost; "Levels of security, backup, redundancy and performance" beyond "the typical law firm"; Updates and patches from the provider; Available...

Should You Have a Weblog Too?

Posted on July 30, 2009
I've been a blogging evangelist for a long time. In the early days of blogging, I wrote an article for the Illinois Bar Journal titled "What Weblogs Can Do for You." That article was published in mid-2004,a long time ago...

Prior to the Expert Deposition: Investigate the C.V.

Posted on July 28, 2009
Don't save your review of an expert's CV for the night before the deposition. Read it well in advance of the deposition, then mark it up and investigate the expert's claims. Has the expert exaggerated his qualifications? Such exaggerations can...

Your First Trial: Getting Up to Speed Quickly

Posted on July 23, 2009
At Ron Miller's law firm, Miller & Zois LLC, they're open to the idea of sharing their work product. The firm's "Sample Personal Injury Trial Materials" contains many real-life transcripts, in addition to forms and examples in these areas: Sample...

Objections to the Form of a Question: A Partial List

Posted on July 21, 2009
Lawyers who are defending depositions (or learning how to to defend depositions) sometimes like a handy list of form objections. If the form objection is not made during the deposition, this type of objection is normally waived. Here are some...

Trial Practice Tips from David Boies

Posted on July 16, 2009
At the Insurance Defense Blog, Dave Stratton has collected a number of litigation-related tips from David Boies. Stratton's post is titled "Trial Practice Tips Courtesy of David Boies," and pulls quotes from the (fairly) recent Boies book, "Courting Justice: A...

Navigating Trial Practice Tips by Category

Posted on July 14, 2009
Since I started this weblog in January, 2004, I've written 822 posts, enough for a good-sized book. Most of these posts are assigned to one or more categories. You can get to these categories by clicking on the list that...

A Paperless Office Testimonial

Posted on July 09, 2009
The idea of a paperless office continues to bring joy to the imagination of lawyers (even if a slightly different goal, an office with less paper, would be even better). If you're thinking of giving the paperless office a try,...

Dealing with 30(b)(6) Depositions from the Defense Perspective

Posted on July 07, 2009
Depositions of corporate representatives remain my preferred method of working up a plaintiff's class action or products-liability case. As seen in the "related posts" below, I've written about 30(b)(6) depositions before, but usually from a plaintiffs' perspective...

Technology at Trial: Some Basics

Posted on July 02, 2009
Here's a basic but useful article from Law.com's Legal Technology page: "At Trial, Don't Leave Technology Behind," by Jamerra J. Cherry-- You know you're ready for trial when you have two boxes of trial binders, work copy of records, note...

My Other Weblogging Project: The Legal Underground

Posted on June 30, 2009
My other weblogging project, The Legal Underground, is in its sixth year. The content is more wide-open and whimsical than Trial Practice Tips; some might say it's more fun. I've taken an opportunity to arrange some of the content so...

Depositions Before Interrogatories?

Posted on June 25, 2009
Can a well-crafted set of interrogatories ever hurt your case? In many complex cases, interrogatories served early in the case can educate your opponents about your case strategies at a time when you'd rather keep them in the dark. Moreover,...

Editing Tip: Spell Out Numbers One to Ten, and Don't Repeat Them in Parentheses

Posted on June 23, 2009
Apparently, there used to be some formal editing rule that said you had to write numbers twice, repeating them once in parentheses, like this: Before the consolidation order, there were more than eight (8) other, separate cases on file. With...

Deposition Tip: Use Exhibits Regularly During Video Depositions

Posted on June 18, 2009
You can create a more interesting and visually-compelling videotaped deposition by showing the witness an exhibit every so often. When you are preparing for trial, you can set up the video playback to display the exhibit on the screen as...

Use Your Opponent's Interrogatory Answers at Trial

Posted on June 16, 2009
Don't think of interrogatory answers as something to be forgotten after the initial stages of discovery are complete. Interrogatory answers often contain admissions that you can introduce into evidence at trial. Part of every trial notebook is an "interrogatory" section...

Cross-Examination: Tips from a Pro

Posted on June 11, 2009
I've written before about Your Witness: Lessons on Cross-Examination and Life from Great Chicago Trial Lawyers, edited by Steven F. Molo and James R. Figliulo. One of the contributors, Peter C. John, has an article titled "Cross-Examination and Jury Ego,"...

Practice Tip: Don't Overdo the Objections to Your Opponent's Discovery

Posted on June 09, 2009
When you file objections to your opponent's discovery, don't get carried away. Never object to every interrogatory or production request. It's an obvious tip, but there are lawyers who do object to every interrogatory or production request. These objection-crazy lawyers...

How to Improve Your Legal Writing

Posted on June 02, 2009
My small contribution to the area of legal writing includes three articles published in the Illinois Bar Journal, which you can find on my law firm's website-- Improve Your Legal Writing with Five Simple Rules; First Drafts Made Easy; Five...

At the Blogs: Recommendations on Case Management Software, and More

Posted on May 28, 2009
Here are some notable recent posts from around the law-related blogosphere-- Case Management Software: "Update on Case Management Software" and "Trial Works Online Takes a Quantum Leap in Case Management," both from the South Carolina Trial Law Blog; Learning to...

Best iPhone Applications for Lawyers

Posted on May 26, 2009
From the ABA Journal: "More Lawyers Getting iPhones, But What Are the Best Apps?" by Sarah Randag-- According to this year?s ABA Technology Survey, the availability of the iPhone at law firms is inching upward, which means that more lawyers...

Depositions: Learn from the Old Pros

Posted on May 21, 2009
Here's a quick tip. If you want to ramp up your deposition skills, there's nothing like reading depositions taken by lawyers whom you respect. Lawyers in firms of all sizes have access to the firm's case files; look through them...

Cross-Examination: A Refresher

Posted on May 19, 2009
At his weblog Plaintiff Trial Lawyer Tips, Paul Luvera has been posting on cross-examination, always of interest to trial lawyers--plaintiff or defense. Luvera has two recent posts: Five Steps of Preparation for Cross-Examination. The five steps are fully explained in...

Deposition Tip: Don't Give the Witness a Chance to "Dis-Remember" an Event

Posted on May 14, 2009
Here is a simple tip for framing questions. Once a lawyer has established that a witness was present at an event, many will ask a poor follow-up question along these lines: "Do you remember what happened?" Other versions of the...

Writing for the Court: Control Your Outrage and Scorn

Posted on May 12, 2009
Here's a worthwhile post from Maxwell Kennerly's Litigation & Trial weblog: "How To Write Your Brief So That The Judge Will Hate You." Kennerly's post came about like this. First, Kennerly read an article about a judge who wasn't happy...

Keeping Up with Tech for Lawyers: Some Resources

Posted on May 07, 2009
If you're a tech junkie like I am, you probably like to keep up on the latest tech news for lawyers. Here are some resources to keep in mind: DennisKennedy.blog iPhone J.D. PDF for Lawyers Digital Workflow Dennis Kennedy's tech...

Plaintiffs' Lawyers: How to Prepare for Your Client's Deposition

Posted on May 05, 2009
Your client's deposition can make or break a case. Because of its importance, always plan to do too much preparation, rather than too little. Here is a suggested procedure: A few weeks before the deposition, send your client a letter...

Researching Medical Experts Online

Posted on April 30, 2009
At the James Publishing weblog, Dorothy Clay Sims has a book excerpt titled "Checklist for Researching Defense Doctors," which includes a number of tips that will work for researching doctors hired by either side in a case. Sims lists these...

Tips for Locating Missing Witnesses

Posted on April 28, 2009
Although you can always hire someone to do your "skip tracing" for you, online resources often make it easy to find missing witnesses yourself. Some tips and ideas: Ask family, friends, and neighbors. If you have an address for your...

Deposition Podcasts: Advanced Techniques

Posted on April 22, 2009
For free deposition advice, why not try my three podcasts on advanced deposition techniques? Originally posted Legal Underground, I'm reprising them here (again). Just follow the links-- Advanced Deposition Techniques #1: Five Tips for Asserting Control at Depositions Advanced Deposition...

Defense Lawyers: How to Prepare Witnesses for Depositions

Posted on April 16, 2009
Here's a good article by Matt Keenan of Shook, Hardy & Bacon in Kansas City: "Preparing a Witness for a Successful Deposition"-- In my 20-some years of working with company witnesses as part of the discovery process, I?ve learned that...

A Worthwhile Podcast About Intellectual Property

Posted on April 14, 2009
Doug Lichtman is a tenured law professor at UCLA who started a podcast six months ago called Intellectual Property Colloquium. Each month, Lichtman posts an hour-long conversation about a patent, copyright, or technology topic. The line-up of guests is fantastic...

A Free Excerpt from My Deposition Book from James Publishing

Posted on April 09, 2009
At the James Publishing website, there is an excerpt from the first chapter of my deposition book, Deposition Checklists and Strategies. Some of the material is very basic, but the excerpt also includes these sections, which are more advanced: B....

Impeachment During Cross: What Really Matters

Posted on April 07, 2009
Here's a tip from a recent article in Trial magazine: Impeachment is not about convincing a witness to change testimony; it is about showing the jury that a witness has changed his or her story. The author expounds on this...

A "Bounty" of Tech-Related Practice Tips

Posted on March 31, 2009
The March, 2009, issue of the ABA's Law Practice Magazine, which is online and free to all, is celebrating "the spirit of ABA TECHSHOW by giving you a bounty of legal technology tips." Some of the articles this month include:...

Depositions: Asserting Control with the "Nonresponsive" Objection

Posted on March 27, 2009
When a witness won't answer your question directly, you should keep on track and ask again, like this: Thanks for that, but you didn't answer my question. Did you supervise Mrs. Smith? After a couple rounds of repeating the question,...

16 Books to Make You a Better Trial Lawyer

Posted on March 24, 2009
Here's an interesting Amazon reading list I stumbled upon accidently: "16 books to read if you want to become a better trial lawyer." The list was compiled by D. Shane Read, an author himself who also happened to include his...

A Recommended Trial-Ad Book That Won't Steer You Wrong

Posted on March 19, 2009
Although the book I am recommending today was written primarily as a law-school text, Trial Advocacy: Planning, Analysis, and Strategy is also an excellent resource for practitioners, especially younger lawyers working on their first trials. Described as a "how-to book...

What Do I Really Think About Twitter?

Posted on March 18, 2009
Despite this post a few days ago, I guess I'm a little ambivalent about Twitter. I love it yet I hate it. At Legal Underground, I have a long post about an alternative social network for lawyers, a relatively new...

Examples of Bad Legal Writing from the "Legalese Hall of Shame"

Posted on March 17, 2009
Here's an example of some bad legal writing from the "Legalese Hall of Shame," originally spotted in a lawyer's letter-- I am herewith returning the stipulation to dismiss in the above entitled matter; the same being duly executed by me....

Today's Advice for Trial Lawyers (as Seen on Twitter)

Posted on March 12, 2009
Lawyer Dave Gallaher, who posts on Twitter as @ddgallaher, was providing some free career advice today in the Twitter-writer's characteristic terse manner-- Advice for young lawyers: smile at the judge, especially when he or she displays his or her comedic...

Jury-Related Blogs and Feeds

Posted on March 10, 2009
From the weblog Deliberations ("law, news, and thoughts on juries and jury trials") comes the "2009 Guide To Jury Blogs And Feeds," a long list of weblogs and other sources. There's plenty of good information here for trial lawyers, such...

Other Good Weblogs: Two From the Defense Side

Posted on March 05, 2009

Another Trial Practice Weblog to Bookmark

Posted on March 03, 2009

How to Electronically Annotate Cases You Find Online

Posted on February 25, 2009
At the (new) legal writer, Raymond Ward has a useful post called "Owning your downloaded legal authorities," in which he describes his own personal system for reading and annotating case law after downloading it into a word processing program. A...

Scott Turow's Five Essentials of Cross-Examination

Posted on February 24, 2009
In his foreword to the book "Your Witness: Lessons on Cross-Examination and Life from Great Chicago Trial Lawyers," Scott Turow gives a quick list of the "essential rules" of cross-examination. Here's the list, quoting Turow-- Never ask a question to...

Telephone Depositions: Yes or No?

Posted on February 19, 2009
At a recent conference, I heard a prominent plaintiffs' lawyer say that he always does depositions over the telephone. Reason: telephone depositions are more time-efficient and less costly. That's sound logic, I suppose. His advice even extended to expert depositions,...

15 Ways to Ruin a Deposition (Part 3 of 3)

Posted on February 17, 2009
Wrapping up this series of posts (see parts one and two), it's time for the final five ways that a lawyer can ruin a deposition. Since I've personally made all of these mistakes myself, I feel I'm well qualified to...

From Blonde Justice: Preparing for Trial in Four Steps

Posted on February 12, 2009
Over the past few months, the anonymous blogger Blonde Justice has been writing a four-part series called "How to Prepare for Trial." Although it's aimed at criminal defense lawyers, civil lawyers may also find it interesting. In the series, you'll...

Learn from a Trial Transcript

Posted on February 10, 2009
As I said in an earlier post, "Trial Transcripts Online," you can learn a lot from watching live trials or, failing that, reading trial transcripts.The only problem is that complete trial transcripts in civil cases are hard to find on...

15 Ways to Ruin a Deposition (Part 2 of 3)

Posted on February 05, 2009
Following up on the first part of this series, I'll continue with the second five ways a lawyer can ruin a deposition. Once again, these tips are all based on personal experience, so I know them well--6. Failing to ask...

Carry the Rules With You On Your iPhone

Posted on February 03, 2009
At the old firm many years ago, the partners used to shake their fingers at any associate who asked a question that could be easily answered by reference to the rules."Read them this weekend," they'd say. "What do you think...

15 Ways to Ruin a Deposition (Part 1 of 3)

Posted on January 29, 2009
In this series of posts, I'll dig into the archives of The Trial Practice Tips Weblog and highlight some of my prior posts about depositions. Although you can see all of these post in this weblog's deposition category, I thought...

The Paperless Office Continues to Fascinate

Posted on January 27, 2009
Ernie the Attorney remains on the trail of the paperless office. For details, see his post, "Upcoming 'paperless lawyering' seminars," and sign up to receive notice of seminars that might be taking place near you.Related Post: "The Paperless Office Wiki:...

New Weblog with Practice Tips: the James Publishing Author's Blog

Posted on January 22, 2009
There's a new weblog by James Publishing, which publishes (often plaintiff-oriented) law-related works like my own Deposition Checklists and Strategies. Called the James Publishing Author's Blog, the weblog will feature posts from James Publishing authors, who will highlight content from...

Conform Your Citations to the Bluebook, Automatically

Posted on January 20, 2009
Using CiteGenie, you can "automagically copy text with correct citations from Westlaw, Lexis, and other websites." Here's how the author describes the free program, which plugs into your browser--Cutting and pasting when doing legal research using your browser is simple...

Trial Practice Tips from the Kentucky Law Review Weblog

Posted on January 15, 2009
You can find three-years of trial practice tips at Kentucky Law Review by Michael L. Stevens, including these-- "Tip: Obtaining certified copies of past weather conditions from National Climatic Data Center (NCDC)" "Manual for Complex Litigation - FREE" "Use of...

Epidemiology for Semi-Dummies

Posted on January 13, 2009
Products-liability lawyers who work on pharmaceutical cases, as I do from time to time, need to be have a working knowledge of the science of epidemiology. A few years ago, I surveyed the variety of basic-to-intermediate epidemiology texts and selected...

Two Litigation-Related Weblogs for Your RSS Reader

Posted on January 08, 2009
Check out these two weblogs, if you haven't already-- The Complex Litigator--"A California-centric collection of comments and resources concerning the practice and procedures that make complex litigation and class actions uniquely challenging" Litigation & Trial--"The tales and tribulations of a...

Tip for Direct Examination: Write Down the Answer, Not the Question

Posted on January 06, 2009
This direct-examination tip comes from "Persuasive Direct," by Jim McElhaney, in the January 2009 issue of the ABA Journal-- When you prepare for trial, don?t write out your questions. They?ll sound stiff and unnatural when you read them out loud....

A Useful Question to Ask at Expert Depositions

Posted on December 31, 2008
Some lawyers routinely ask this question at expert depositions-- Q. "What is your understanding of your role in this litigation?" The question touches on a number of topics you will cover later in the deposition: the manner in which the...

The Anatomy of the Perfect Deposition Question

Posted on December 23, 2008
The perfect deposition question has the following characteristics: It's short -- it contains no unnecessary words; It's clear -- it contains no ambiguities and is susceptible to only a single meaning; It's self-contained -- its meaning can be ascertained with...

The Only Writing Tip That Really Matters

Posted on December 18, 2008
The topic of today's post is overstatement. An example of overstatement can be found in the title of today's post, in which I suggest that overstatement might be the only writing problem that really matters. Well, not really. It is...

Improve Your Oral Argument

Posted on December 16, 2008
Here's advice from Chief Justice Shirley S. Abrahamson of the Supreme Court of Wisconsin, when asked for three ways that lawyers can improve their oral arguments-- First, know the record, your brief, and the cases on which you rely. Second,...

Finding "The Best and Cheapest" Experts

Posted on December 11, 2008
In his popular plaintiff-oriented book David Ball on Damages, David Ball has a section titled "The Best and the Cheapest," which begins like this--In every community, there is an ample supply of first-rate expert witnesses who can testify on a...

A Bit of Housekeeping: A Minor Change in This Weblog's Name

Posted on December 10, 2008
Since most of the posts on this weblog are not Illinois-specific, I've taken "Illinois" out of the weblog's name.What was once the Illinois Trial Practice Weblog is now The Trial Practice Tips Weblog.You can reach the weblog as you've always...

Questioning Experts on Direct: Focus on Methodology

Posted on December 09, 2008
Experts shouldn't force-feed jurors their opinions; instead, they should give jurors the tools -- the methodology -- to reach the right conclusions themselves.Call it the softer approach. Rather than allowing the expert to make pronouncements with little explanation, put the...

A New Magazine "for Women in Litigation"

Posted on December 04, 2008
A new bi-monthly magazine "for woman in litigation", Sue, launches in January with a cover feature by law professor Laurie L. Levenson titled "If Women Wrote the Laws"-- What would our world look like if women wrote the laws? What...

Legal Writing: Is That Judge Smart, or Not?

Posted on December 02, 2008
Does the use of simple words make you seem smarter? That's the topic of two recent blog posts from two different bloggers that I happened upon serendipitously by accident. One of the posts deals with a particular judge, which is...

Netbook Computers: A Growing Trend

Posted on November 25, 2008
Are netbook computers are better-suited to college students than bigshot lawyers? Maybe so, but they've evolved to the point where they'll do what most lawyers would want them to do. If you're looking for a small computer for short trips,...

Advice to Litigators: Don't Depose Every Witness

Posted on November 20, 2008
At Atkinson-Baker's Depo.com, lawyer Stewart Weltman has some good advice in his article, "Deciding Who To Depose (part one)"-- [D]eposing everyone connected with the facts is not the answer. Why? Because doing so results in numerous meaningless depositions being taken...

Trial-Planning Steps to Take After a Deposition Has Ended

Posted on November 18, 2008
While you'll often want to forget about a deposition as soon as it's concluded, the better practice is to use your recent gearing-up for the deposition as a springboard for some trial preparation. Consider taking the following steps: In a...

Production from Non-Parties and Records Depositions: Some Generalities

Posted on November 13, 2008
Here are some broad principles that will apply to many situations involving production from non-parties: A non-party person or entity will be compelled to produce documents and appear for a deposition with a subpoena, not a notice; For deposition subpoenas...

Lay Witnesses: Separating Fact from Opinion

Posted on November 11, 2008
Lay witnesses will often give you their opinions at depositions even when you didn't ask for them. Examples: "He wasn't driving safely.""The roof was in good repair.""I wasn't at fault.""I'm going to need more surgery.""Our policy was perfectly reasonable...

The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure: Online Resources

Posted on November 06, 2008
For future reference, here's a list of some online resources concerning the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure: The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, from Cornell University Law School, html and hyperlinked; The Federal Rules from the US Courts website; links...

The Use of Round Numbers in Trial and Settlement

Posted on November 04, 2008
Which number seems higher: $325,425 or $325,000? There's an interesting analysis of this question from Ron Miller at The Maryland Injury Lawyer Blog: "Exact Numbers in Personal Injury Cases." Miller's post deals with trials but also touches on settlement...

Legal Writing in Crisis?

Posted on October 30, 2008
At Legal Blog Watch, Carolyn Elefant blames the deterioration in legal-writing abilities on the ubiquity of low-cost legal research tools-- While I believe that both factors --the informality of e-mail and lack of quality teaching -- have contributed to the...

Video Depositions: the New Legal Art?

Posted on October 28, 2008
Are video depositions the new legal art? That's the view of Dick Dahl in his article "Video Depositions Offer Advantages at Trial"-- [T]the lawyers who practice this relatively new legal art say there's a lot more to producing an effective...

Navigating Illinois Trial Practice by Category: An Update

Posted on October 23, 2008
Since I started this weblog in January, 2004, I've written 751 posts, enough for a good-sized book. Most of these posts are assigned to one or more categories. You can get to these categories by clicking on the list that...

The New Rule 502 and Waiver of Privilege: A Podcast to Keep You Informed

Posted on October 21, 2008
The weekly law-related podcast Coast to Coast has done a podcast about new Federal Rule 502, which establishes a new rule of evidence and is expected to reduce litigation costs-- Every lawyer knows the costs of discovery can escalate. Last...

News for Illinois Lawyers: the ISBA Website, Redesigned

Posted on October 17, 2008
The Illinois State Bar Association wants you to know that it has redesigned its website-- We?ve redesigned our Web site to improve its usability and appearance. The presentation of the home page and navigation has been dramatically simplified so that...

Tech Tips for Taking Your Law Firm on the Road

Posted on October 14, 2008
Thanks to a variety of Internet-power tools -- some free, some not -- it's easier than ever to work from the road, even outside the country like I'm doing this month in Argentina. My trip wouldn't have been possible without...

Litigation-Related Software Reviews, for Free

Posted on October 09, 2008
A new site, litiReviews, collects and compiles reviews of litigation-related software that you can browse for free. From the site-- Welcome to LitiReviews, the largest collection of free legal and litigation software reviews on the web. All reviews (150+) are...

Read The Jury Expert, Free Online

Posted on October 07, 2008
The Jury Expert is a free online publication that's published by the American Society of Trial Consultants. The September issue contains the following articles, among others-- The Preparation of Narcissistic Witnesses, by Douglas Keene, Charlotte Morris, Lisa DeCaro; The 3...

Illinois Trial Practice, Coming to You This Month from Argentina

Posted on October 07, 2008
Andrea and I have taken Schaeffer & Lamere on the road. This month we're in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Details (if you want them) here at Legal Underground.

Asked and Answered? A Tip for Asking a Question Again

Posted on October 02, 2008
During a deposition, you might be in a situation in which you'd like to ask a question a second or third time. For example, say a witness has testified that he recalls speaking with someone about an important topic. He's...

The Use of Leading Questions During Illinois Depositions

Posted on September 30, 2008
As stated in Supreme Court Rule 206(c)(1), "The deponent in a discovery deposition may be examined regarding any matter subject to discovery under these rules. The deponent may be questioned by any party as if under cross-examination." Don't neglect this...

Still More about Multidistrict Litigation

Posted on September 25, 2008
In August, I began my most recent post about the federal MDL Panel like this: "Every litigator should have a working knowledge of the ins and outs of federal multidistrict litigation." That post contained some good, free resources for learning...

About This Weblog: the Deposition Category

Posted on September 23, 2008
Every post in this weblog is organized into categories, which you'll find listed in a column on the left. Since I started this weblog in 2004, I've done more than 100 posts on depositions, which you can easily find by...

A Writing Tip You Can't Afford to Miss

Posted on September 18, 2008
What's the writing tip you can't afford to miss? Some hints-- It's the topic of Chapter 43 of Bryan Garner's The Winning Brief. There are entire books written about it. It's a problem that's all around us, even in the...

Dictation in the 21st Century: What You Need to Know

Posted on September 16, 2008
Here's a useful article from Law.com: "Legal Dictation Needs to Talk Digital," by Enrico Schaefer-- Lawyers have traditionally dictated documents such as pleadings, correspondence and memos. But today, with digital software, we can use dictation to manage our firms, matters...

Depositions and Interpreters

Posted on September 11, 2008
Lawyers doing a deposition with an interpreter will want to look at two recent posts from Ron Miller at his Baltimore Injury Lawyer Blog: "Using Interpreters at Depositions" "More Deposition Tips" In the second post, Miller also links to a...

Podcasts for Lawyers

Posted on September 09, 2008
Podcasts for lawyers? Is there such a thing? The question was thoroughly answered about a year ago during a roundtable discussion posted Law Practice Today: "Legal Talk Radio on Demand: Podcasting for Lawyers - Past, Present and Future." Towards the....

The Top Ten Federal Rules of Evidence, Part 2

Posted on September 04, 2008
As promised in my last post, here's the rest of the Top-10 list of federal rules of evidence, according to lawyer Stephen Saltzburg-- FRE 404, Character Evidence. The exceptions to this rule about character evidence should be committed to memory....

The Top Ten Federal Rules of Evidence, Part 1

Posted on September 02, 2008
Want to ramp up the speed at which you make objections at federal trials? According to lawyer Stephen Saltzburg, there are ten federal rules of evidence that you should make sure you know backwards and forwards. Here are the first...

Videotaping Your Opponent's Deposition

Posted on August 28, 2008
Situation: Your opponent notices a deposition. For one reason or another, you want to videotape it. Do you need your opponent's consent? Obviously, the answer depends on the jurisdiction. The issue recently led to a dispute in New Jersey, as...

A Book Becomes a Blog

Posted on August 26, 2008
As seen at DennisKennedy.bog, a book is now a weblog too. The book: The Lawyer's Guide to Collaboration Tools and Technologies: Smart Ways to Work Together, by Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell, as reviewed here; The weblog: The Lawyer's Guide...

Learn about Federal Multidistrict Litigation

Posted on August 21, 2008
Every litigator should have a working knowledge of the ins and outs of federal multidistrict litigation. Although at Legal Underground, I've done my best to explain how things work by posting about the MDL panel now and then, my tone...

Discovery Tip: Using Model Interrogatories to Fend Off Objections to Discovery

Posted on August 19, 2008
In many jurisdictions, you can find court-approved interrogatories, such as model interrogatories for motor vehicle, medical malpractice, and divorce cases approved by the Illinois Supreme Court. Even if your case doesn't fall under one of the standard categories, you can...

Test Yourself: What Makes a Good Opening Statement

Posted on August 14, 2008
At Winning Trial Practice Techniques, you take a quiz to find out whether your opening statements measure up. It was written by Elliott Wilcox, and answers questions like these: When is the best time to disclose weaknesses in your case?...

Cross-Examination at Trial: Just Say No

Posted on August 12, 2008
Cross-examination at trial? Don't do it, especially if you're a new lawyer. That's the advice of one commentary-judge in Litigation magazine, Mark R. McGarry, Jr., who writes, "It must be said that very few new lawyers (almost none) have the...

Missouri Lawyers: New Expert Rule, Effective January, 2009

Posted on August 07, 2008
There's a new expert rule for Missouri lawyers, effective January, 2009. The change was recently announced in an order issued by the Missouri Supreme Court. See particularly Rule 56.01, which outlines an amended expert interrogatory--(A) A party may through interrogatories...

Trial Tip: Overhead Photos, Courtesy of Google Earth

Posted on August 05, 2008
At the Trial Lawyer Resource Center, Ron Miller recommends using Google Earth for obtaining overhead photos of an accident scene. A commenter agrees-- The use of overhead photos to orient jurors to general geographic location of incidents and then the...

"Please Tell the Jury": A Formula Guaranteed to Make You Sound Pompous

Posted on July 31, 2008
You hear it all the time when lawyers are presenting their experts to a jury or preserving their testimony for trial: "Doctor, would you tell the jury how mesothelioma is diagnosed?" "Mr. Expert, I'd like you to explain to the...

Taking Control of Direct Examination

Posted on July 29, 2008
Has a witness on direct ever given you an unexpected answer to a key question? Did you know how to recover from this tricky situation? For a step-by-step guide, see "What to Do When Your Witness Forgets," by Elliott Wilcox...

Cross-Examining the Liar at Trial: Two Absolute Prerequisites

Posted on July 24, 2008
In the new book, Your Witness: Lessons on Cross-Examination, there is a chapter titled "Cross-Examining the Liar" by Chicago lawyer Dan Webb. Webb, who has cross-examined scores of liars during his long career, begins the chapter by describing the two...

Law Review Articles on the Web

Posted on July 22, 2008
In an article in the July issue of the Illinois Bar Journal, "Finding Free Legal Articles on the Web" (ISBA membership required), Tom Gaylord suggests these sources for finding free online law-review articles-- Google Scholar; SSRN -- Legal Scholarship Network;...

Depositions: When the Witness Answers a Question You Didn't Ask

Posted on July 17, 2008
Often during depositions, a witness will answer a question that's different than the one you asked. Lawyers with good deposition skills listen closely enough to a witness's answers to recognize this situation when it happens. Example: Q. Were you present...

Trial Notebooks: An Alternative Method

Posted on July 10, 2008
As an alternative to an earlier post, "A Method for Organizing a Trial Notebook," here's another method of organization, as suggested in a book by Leonard H. Bucklin-- The Plan Summary Pretrial Orders Our Witnesses Their Witnesses Third-Party Witnesses Our...

Filing Online in Illinois: Not Quite Ready for Primetime

Posted on June 12, 2008
From the Krane County Chronicle: "Online court filings in the future," by Kate Thayer-- The state?s high court wants to make filing cases and court documents easier with an initiative that would allow lawyers to file online. The ?E-Business? initiative...

Illinois Lawyers: Discovery Depositions Can Rarely Be Used as Substantive Evidence

Posted on June 10, 2008
In Illinois, we have two types of depositions, discovery and evidence, with different rules for each. Both types of depositions can be used to impeach, but only evidence depositions, generally speaking, can be used as substantive evidence. A new case...

Reminder: New Illinois Jury Instructions Can Be Found Online

Posted on May 29, 2008
The Illinois Courts website contains "recent instructions, not yet contained in the Illinois Pattern Jury Instructions bound volumes, drafted by the Supreme Court Committee on Jury Instructions in Civil Cases." You'll find the new instructions at Recent Civil Jury Instructions,...

Resources for Backing Up Online

Posted on May 27, 2008
From PC World, an article of interest to solos: "Mobile Computing: Online Backup Services." Most traditional backup methods copy your computer files onto some kind of media, be it an external hard drive, a CD or DVD, or a USB...

A Must-Not-Forget Tip for Dealing with Experts

Posted on May 22, 2008
Here's some good advice about dealing with experts, posted by Ron Miller at the Trial Lawyer Resource Center: Do not send a letter, email or even leave a telephone message to an expert (or fact witness) that you would not...

Bryan Garner Discusses Writing with Justice Scalia

Posted on May 20, 2008
The ABA Journal has emailed me to say that in addition to the Scalia-Garner freebie I mentioned in a post last week, there's also a free audio file in which Scalia and Garner discuss writing and oral argument. You can...

An Expert-Related Practice Tip from Deposition Checklists and Strategies

Posted on May 15, 2008
This is just one of the many practice tips that you'll find liberally scattered throughout the eight chapters of my book, Deposition Checklists and Strategies (James Publishing): �4:255 Practice Tip: What the Expert Did Not Do Remember to ask the...

A Don't-Miss Freebie from the ABA

Posted on May 13, 2008
The ABA Journal has excerpted "Making Your Case: The Art of Persuading Judges," by Justice Antonin Scalia and Bryan A. Garner. The excerpt can be found here; a link to the book itself is here. Meanwhile, there is an interesting...

Class Actions, Post-CAFA

Posted on May 08, 2008
This month's Trial magazine has news from a March conference at the Benjamin Cardozo School of Law called "Justice and the Role of Class Actions." A quick summary-- Class actions are "evolving, not dying." If the Class Action Fairness Act...

Motion Hearings: Listening to the Judge

Posted on May 06, 2008
Some judges don't say very much at motion hearings. When they do, however, make sure you're listening to them. Last year, I saw a judge interrupt a lawyer with a comment. As often happens at a motion hearing, the judge...

Six Tips for Improving Your Direct Examinations

Posted on May 01, 2008
Here is a basic blueprint for putting together a direct examination. The tips are basic, but worth remembering-- Find out what information you want to elicit. The rest of these tips deal with technique; this tip deals with substance. You're...

All the Online Reference Sites You'll Ever Need

Posted on April 30, 2008
Here's an article to bookmark from the newsletter of the ABA General Practice, Solo & Small Firm Division: "Sites For Sore Eyes: Fun and Handy Reference Sites That Rock!" by Jim Calloway and Courtney Kennaday-- It?s not all about Google,...

Informing Yourself about Your Adversary: Google Is Your Friend

Posted on April 24, 2008
Here's an interesting post from David Swanner of the South Carolina Trial Law Blog: "How to Ace a Job Interview with Me"-- One of the first questions I ask is ?What do you know about me?? It amazes me the...

A Lawyer's Duty: Control the Client at Depositions

Posted on April 22, 2008
Do lawyers have a duty to control their clients during depositions? Take a look at this recent article from Law.com-- Lawyer and Client Sanctioned Over Client's Conduct, Use of 'F Word' During Deposition A federal judge has levied sanctions of...

New Book: Make Better Use of Technology to Collaborate

Posted on April 17, 2008
Any lawyer who must collaborate with others--that's all lawyers, by the way--should take a look at The Lawyer's Guide to Collaboration Tools and Technologies: Smart Ways to Work Together, by Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell. Recently published by the ABA...

A Few Things to Know About Juries

Posted on April 15, 2008
In the April, 2008, issue of the Illinois Bar Journal, you'll find some interesting tidbits about juries in "Lessons from Jury Research," by Sara Parikh and Terrence Lavin. Some examples-- Juries care most about the "strength of the evidence" and...

Common Deposition Error: Repeating Yourself

Posted on April 10, 2008
Once you get good testimony at a deposition, you're best to leave the testimony alone. Take the good answer from the witness and move on. It seems like obvious advice, but some lawyers can't wait to read the good answer...

Experts in Illinois: The Duty to Disclose Begins with an Interrogatory

Posted on April 08, 2008
Question: You represent the plaintiff in a case in which the trial court has entered a scheduling order requiring you to disclose your experts by a certain date. You do so, in addition to sending the other side a report....

Deposition Podcasts: Advanced Techniques

Posted on April 03, 2008
For free deposition advice, why not try my three podcasts on advanced deposition techniques? Originally posted Legal Underground, I'm reprising them here. Just follow the links-- Advanced Deposition Techniques #1: Five Tips for Asserting Control at Depositions Advanced Deposition Techniques...

The Paperless Office Wiki: Everything You Need to Know

Posted on April 01, 2008
Everything you need to know about "paperless offices" for law firms is now contained at a wiki created by Christinne Newman, Philip Devin , and Kim Ross-Winston. The intro-- The intent of this wiki is to provide you, the end...

Tip: What to Do with Those Stacks of Legal Magazines

Posted on March 27, 2008
Every month, the legal magazines keep piling up. Some might actually contain some useful information. But when are you going to find the time to read them? If you're like me, you're prone to simply glance at the new magazines...

Self-Editing Tips for Legal Writers

Posted on March 25, 2008
When you're close to a final draft, use this self-editing checklist to add a bit of polish--or give it to your assistant to do the same. Are the headings correctly numbered? Are acronyms explained? Are the parties referred to in...

E-Filing Resources for Newbies

Posted on March 20, 2008
Those who don't practice regularly in federal court might still be in the dark about e-filing. Some resources: The ABA's Electronic Filing Resource Page contains some basic information about state and federal e-filing systems, as well as a list of...

Navigating Illinois Trial Practice by Category

Posted on March 18, 2008
Since I started this weblog in January, 2004, I've written 689 posts. Most of these posts are assigned to one or more categories. You can get to these categories by clicking on the list that appears on the left side...

The Supreme Court on Legal Writing

Posted on March 13, 2008
The news has already made its way around the law-related weblogs, but I wanted to bookmark it here for my own purposes: Bryan Garner's interviews about legal writing with eight U.S. Supreme-Court justices, all available in one place at LawProse,...

A Litigation Weblog with an Attitude

Posted on March 07, 2008
Stewart Weltman, formerly a partner at Cohen Milstein Hausfeld & Toll P.L.L.C. and now the owner of Weltman Law Firm, has a new weblog: Lean and Mean Litigation Blog. A representative post is titled "Another Reason Why You Shouldn't Play...

More Practice Tips from My Deposition Book

Posted on March 04, 2008
The book I recently wrote about depositions, Deposition Checklists and Strategies (James Publishing, 2006 Rev. 2007), contains eight chapters. As a bonus, each chapter contains an assortment of "practice tips," comparable to the type of tips I post here on...

Writing Tip: Using Footnotes in Early Drafts

Posted on February 28, 2008
Most agree with the idea that in legal briefs, you should cut the footnotes to a minimum. Nonetheless, it's easy to "drop a footnote" using word-processing programs, and I do it a lot when I'm drafting--to add a note to...

Metadata Update

Posted on February 26, 2008
A number of jurisdictions have issued guidance on the ethics of looking at metadata. These include New York, Florida, Alabama, Arizona, the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. For a summary of the current thinking about metadata, see "Where Do...

Carolyn Elefant's Solo by Choice

Posted on February 22, 2008
In her new book, Solo by Choice: How to Be the Lawyer You Always Wanted to Be, Carolyn Elefant of the MyShingle weblog writes that technological advances have made it easier and cheaper to open a law office than ever...

Persuasive Writing for Lawyers

Posted on February 19, 2008
As I wrote in a post last week, Mentor CLE offers free online video CLE courses on a number of topics, some tailored specifically to Illinois lawyers, some not. One of these free online video presentations is "Persuasive Writing for...

New Free Resource for Lawyers

Posted on February 14, 2008
Mentor CLE offers free online video CLE courses on a number of topics, some tailored specifically to Illinois lawyers, some not. Examples: Building Your Law Practice Suing Securities Professionals Zoning and the First Amendment Landlord and Tenant Law Small Law...

Powerpoint Examples from a Trial Tech

Posted on February 12, 2008
You can find some interesting examples of litigation-related Powerpoint presentations in the "PowerPoint Examples" category of Blake Boyd's The Trial Technologist's View. And you'll find more useful tips in the other categories of the weblog. Related posts: 1...

Streamline Your Plaintiffs Practice

Posted on February 07, 2008
I liked this post from Dave Swanner at the South Carolina Trial Law Blog: "My Goals for the Firm for 2008." Swanner's post has some good ideas for streamlining a plaintiffs practice. If you happen to be of the plaintiffs-practice...

Electronic Discovery: Reading Up on the Federal Rules

Posted on February 05, 2008
Here are some quick links about electronic discovery and the federal rules, collected from a couple of Google searches while I tried to answer a somewhat-unrelated question-- For those who want to refresh their recollection of the '06 amendments to...

Depositions: The "Show Him the Document" Objection

Posted on January 31, 2008
The show-him-the-document objection goes something like this: Objection! You're asking the witness a question about a document you're holding in your hand. If you're going to ask questions about it, show it to the witness. Is it a valid objection?...

Legal Writing: Three Tips from Three Sources

Posted on January 29, 2008
Today's post contains three quick tips for legal writers. By following the links, you'll also find lots of additional advice: When addressing a court, don't adopt the technical business jargon of the parties without explaining it. (Tip from an opinion...

Tip for New Lawyers: Learn by Example

Posted on January 24, 2008
As I've written before, one of the best ways to learn deposition techniques is to pay attention to lawyers who are more experienced that you -- most particularly, your opponents. After all, it's one thing to read how to do...

Those Preliminary Deposition Questions: Don't Make a Speech

Posted on January 22, 2008
Because they?re impatient to get it out of the way, some lawyers turn the standard preliminary deposition questions into a speech: Hi, I?m Bill Smith. I represent the plaintiff and I?m here to ask you some questions today. As you...

The Paperless Law Office: How-To

Posted on January 17, 2008
How are you going to do way with paper at your office, assuming you want to? In his post "Taking a Firm Completely Electronic," Dennis Kennedy tells you how to do it in three simple steps-- Get Adobe Acrobat 8...

Expert Depositions: Pay Attention to the Dates on the Expert's CV

Posted on January 15, 2008
When an expert's CV attempts to summarize a long career, you can often get some good fodder for cross-examination by paying attention to the dates. Did the expert's real-life work experience with the subject of his testimony end years before?...

Depositions: Questions to Ask about Documents

Posted on January 10, 2008
Here's a checklist of some questions you can ask about documents at depositions, while ignoring the objection from the other side that the document "speaks for itself." It doesn't, and the objection can be ignored-- Who wrote the document; Who...

E-Discovery Myths: How Many Typed Pages Per Gigabyte?

Posted on January 08, 2008
If you spend any time doing electronic discovery, chances are you'll soon be arguing about "page equivalency" -- that is, how many pages of data can one assume is in a gigabyte of electronic storage. The matter comes up frequently...

Med Mal: What Determines the Size of Settlements?

Posted on January 03, 2008
In its latest newsletter, the Cambridge Economics Group is featuring an article by its Chief Economist, David M. Frankel, titled, "What Determines Malpractice Payments?" (pdf). This free article is the first part of a series and examines how certain patient-related...

How to Be More Productive as a Lawyer

Posted on December 27, 2007
From the American Bar Association: "Law Hacks: 101 tips, tricks and tools to make you a more productive, less stressed-out lawyer." Some examples: 21 Do the thing you dread the most first thing each day. 22 Break big tasks up...

A Christmas Gift for Litigators

Posted on December 20, 2007
You'll excuse me if I plug my book every now and then. So here's the plug, disguised as a Christmas-gift idea for litigators: That's Deposition Checklists & Strategies, by T. Evan Schaeffer. To learn more, see the James Publishing website...

A Tip for Associates Who Want to Get Ahead: Volunteer for Difficult Assignments

Posted on December 18, 2007
Associates who want to get ahead should be ready to volunteer for difficult assignments. It's the only way around the catch-22 that prevents lawyers from moving up: to get experience, you need good assignments, but you can't get good assignments...

Depositions: Critical Questions for a Defendant Doctor

Posted on December 13, 2007
In a past post, I wrote about questions you should ask in every deposition. Here are a few more key questions when the deponent is a defendant doctor in a medical malpractice case: Whether the doctor has ever had a...

Illinois Oral Arguments to be Posted on Web

Posted on December 11, 2007
From the Springfield Journal-Register: "Supreme Court Web site to feature audio, video of arguments," by Adriana Colindres-- Beginning next month, the Illinois Supreme Court will add a new feature to its Internet site: audio and video recordings of oral arguments...

Depositions: How to Stop Coaching

Posted on December 06, 2007
Though there are rules in most jurisdictions requiring objections to be concise, this doesn?t mean some lawyers won?t still try to make long-winded, rambling objections that suggest the answer to the deponent. How do you prevent opposing counsel from coaching...

What Defense Lawyers Can Learn from the Lawyers on the Other Side

Posted on December 04, 2007
In "Think Like a Plaintiffs Attorney to Lower Litigation Costs," Stewart Weltman argues that defense lawyers can learn from the lawyers working on the other side of the "v." How do plaintiffs' lawyers think? Weltman, who's a plaintiffs' lawyer himself,...

Deposition Tip: Ask About Your Request for Production of Documents

Posted on November 29, 2007
When the witness might have participated in a search for documents about a case, it makes sense during the deposition to ask the witness questions about your request for production of documents. This suggestion works for two types of witnesses:...

Recommended Weblog: the (new) legal writer

Posted on November 27, 2007
At the (new) legal writer, longtime legal weblogger Raymond Ward always has something interesting to say. An appellate lawyer in New Orleans, Ward describes his weblog as "A collection of resources for lawyers and other writers." Some representative posts: "150...

Sample Interrogatories: Truck-Accident Cases

Posted on November 20, 2007
From the Trial Lawyer Resource Center: "Trucking Interrogatories." It's a pretty comprehensive set of interrogatories for the first round of written discovery in a plaintiff's case.

Depositions: How Objections Are Resolved for Trial

Posted on November 15, 2007
For lawyers new to depositions, it?s common to wonder what happens to the objections that are made during the proceeding. They are reserved for ruling at a later time, but exactly when and how? Objections made during depositions are typically...

Are You Using Too Much Courtroom Tech?

Posted on November 13, 2007
Is it possible to use too much courtroom tech? Undoubtedly, yes. When your trial technology is slowing down the trial or confusing the jury, you're trying to do too much. Here are some tips to keep in mind: The primary...

Appellate Court: Never Read Your Argument

Posted on November 08, 2007
It's a common tip for making oral arguments in appellate courts: never read your argument. Not only is it boring for the judges, but you won't be able to respond easily to questions, because it will be harder for you...

Deposition Tip: Visit the Scene

Posted on November 06, 2007
When a deposition involves an event that occurred at a specific scene, try to visit the scene as part of the your deposition preparation. Examples: the intersection where a car accident occurred; the parking lot where a plaintiff slipped on...

Writing Tip: When You're Stuck, Pretend You're Writing a Letter

Posted on November 01, 2007
When doing legal writing, it's easy to trip yourself up by trying to select words that match an imaginary legal style that you're hearing in your "writer's ear." If you're writing a brief, for example, you might be striving for...

A New Set of Voir Dire Tips

Posted on October 30, 2007
In "Eight Tips for Better Voir Dire," John H. Mathias, Jr., weighs in with some good voir dire tips for the ABA Litigation Section. Here are the tips-- Leave each prospective juror feeling good about answering your questions; Never talk...