What could be more useful to a courtroom lawyer than a guide written by a judge, a judge whose intent was to offer “invaluable tips, courtroom strategies and helpful insights into the trial process…?” That is the premise and promise of Judge Curtis Karnow’s LITIGATION IN PRACTICE (12 Tables Press, 2017). The problem is that
It must be daunting to lawyers – at least to those lawyers who care about being proficient in the courtroom – to confront a case in which forensic discipline testimony is being offered. Most lawyers lack scientific training either from their college educations or once they pass the Bar. One of the best ways to
For anyone who wishes to read the circumstances of ten notorious trials of the twentieth century – the Lindbergh baby kidnaping case, the O.J. trial – TRIALS OF THE CENTURY offers good stories and historical context. But for anyone interested in learning from the conduct of the trial – what words were used in an
Trials as designed are not, or are at most coincidentally, searches for truth; rather, they are tools for assessing whether a particular burden of proof has been satisfied. This article compiles research showing the effect of telling jurors that a trial is a search for the truth, language that has been shown to cause them to
A federal judge’s brief, and modestly useful, survey of positive lessons that can be gleaned from the travails of Vincent ‘My Cousin Vinny” Gambini. Omitted are any of the pitfalls as well as any critical assessment of the failure to use leading questions.
Forensic evidence is prevalent and often critical in criminal prosecutions. Yet, while the criminal court processes prize finality of verdicts, science evolves and often proves that earlier analyses were inadequate or plainly wrong. This article examines the tension between those two concerns by focusing on the 2015 decision of the United States Supreme Court in
Fourteen wise tips for making written pleadings, especially briefs, shorter without cutting meaning, The key word for the author is “conciseness.” Schiess is the author of Writing for the Legal Audience; find him and his blog, LEGIBLE, at http://legalwriting.net.
That there are advocacy basics that increase an advocate’s chance of success cannot be gainsaid. And NITA – the National Institute for Trial Advocacy – deserves great credit for providing them in a concise, reader-friendly form in TRIAL ADVOCACY BASICS (NITA, 2016) by Molly Townes O’Brien and Gary S. Gildin. BASICS is an effective resource,
New from the Practising Law Institute, TRIAL EVIDENCE BROUGHT TO LIFE is an ambitious undertaking, an Evidence Law deskbook for attorneys. The intent is that Rules and their application be brought to life and rendered more comprehensible (and therefore more easily applied) by illustrating them with examples from “famous trials, film and fiction.” Written by
With 17 chapters on specific forensic disciplines, the LAWYER’S GUIDE has substantial value in its description of the analytical steps taken in each. But the book suffers from ‘true believer’ syndrome, i.e. the belief that the discipline can make findings with exactitude and uniqueness, particularly when assessing subjective comparison fields such as bitemark, toolmark [firearms]