This coming Thursday, I’ll give a talk about Preparing Difficult Witnesses for Trial at the University of Texas law school Civil Litigation Conference in Austin. My series of posts on the subject ends with this one — and it’s the best one of them all, in my view.
Continue Reading Preparing difficult witnesses for trial: Hardest questions, dry runs, keeping a safe distance, and conclusion
Preparing Difficult Witnesses for Trial — Part 3
In Part 3 of our Preparing Difficult Witnesses for Trial series (see Part 1 and Part 2), we study a key aspect of trial-team dynamics and the necessity of getting face-to-face with difficult witnesses (DWs).
Continue Reading Preparing Difficult Witnesses for Trial — Part 3
Preparing Difficult Witnesses for Trial — Part 2
In Preparing Difficult Witnesses for Trial — Part 1, we looked at the four major types of trial witnesses. We also sketched “some of the more significant ethical considerations that govern your dealings with each category”. We then took “a short and non-exhaustive look at the two major privileges that trial lawyers deal with: the lawyer-client privilege and the lawyer work-product doctrine.”
In this post, we’ll cover the necessity for getting really ready and something you may find surprising — the importance of caring.
Continue Reading Preparing Difficult Witnesses for Trial — Part 2
Preparing Difficult Witnesses for Trial — Part 1
For your client to win at trial, the trial lawyer in you must tell a human story, one that moves jurors to decide in your client’s favor. Flesh-and-blood witnesses fill essential roles in the drama. So-so ones will turn the story to mush, and bad ones will allow your friend on the other side to beat you and your client about the head and neck with it. Difficult witnesses – DWs – therefore pose a risk you must use all your talents and powers to manage.
How can you prepare DWs for their potentially pivotal turn on the courtroom stage? In this series of posts, I offer thoughts from 33 years of trying cases.
Continue Reading Preparing Difficult Witnesses for Trial — Part 1
Witness Lineup for Kagan Hearing
The Senate Judiciary Committee lists these folks who'll testify for/against/about the nomination of Elena Kagan to replace Associate Justice John Paul Stevens:
American Bar Association Witnesses
Kim Askew, Chair, Standing Committee
William J. Kayatta, Jr., First Circuit Representative
Majority Witnesses
Professor Robert C. Clark, Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor, Austin Wakeman Scott