Tag Archives: Plaintiff Trial Lawyer Tips Blog

How to Persuade the Jury to Blame One Party Over The Other.

25 Sunday Sep 2016

Posted by in Jury Persuasion, Opening Argument, Plaintiff's Counsel, Storytelling, Trial Tips and Techniques

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Plaintiffs Should Always Start By Attacking The Defendant, by Paul Luvera, Plaintiff Trial Lawyer Tips Blog

http://plaintifftriallawyertips.com/plaintiffs-should-always-start-by-attacking-the-defendant

[I]n the 1990’s, trial lawyers Gregory Cusimano and David Wenner investigated the issue. They presented fact patterns to hundreds of focus groups around the country and in that process they observed a consistent pattern: when they began their opening statement by talking about the plaintiff, jurors would blame the plaintiff for what happened. But, if they started with the defendant’s conduct, jurors blamed the defendant and placed much less blame on the plaintiff.

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What Skills Make a Great Trial Lawyer?

26 Tuesday Jul 2016

Posted by in Jury Persuasion, Trial Lawyers, Trial Tips and Techniques

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Lessons from One of America’s Greatest Trial Lawyers – Earl Rogers, by Paul Luvera, Plaintiff Trial Lawyer Tips Blog

http://plaintifftriallawyertips.com/lessons-from-one-of-americas-greatest-trial-lawyers-earl-rogers

Earl Rogers was a famous attorney who died in 1922. He defended 77 murder cases and lost only three.  He was one of the greatest trial lawyers in American history. The long running TV series, Perry Mason, was based upon Earl Rogers life. His daughter Della Rogers St. John’s wrote a descriptive book of his trial skills in Final Verdict which is not only enjoyable reading, but educational as well.

We think about Clarence Darrow as a great trial lawyer, but when Darrow was charged with jury bribery in Los Angeles, it was Rogers he selected to be his defense attorney.

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Communication Tactics and Jury Persuasion.

03 Sunday Apr 2016

Posted by in Jury Persuasion, Litigation, Trial Tips and Techniques

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What Trial Lawyers Can Learn From Donald Trump, by Paul Luvera, Plaintiff Trial Lawyer Tips Blog

http://plaintifftriallawyertips.com/what-trial-lawyers-can-learn-from-donald-trump

No, I’m not talking about politics. I’m talking about communication tactics employed by Donald Trump.

Omaha Nebraska jury consultant David Clark and I have engaged in an exchange of emails over a  long period of time about the general subject of communication and in particular techniques taught at the Spence Trial College. However, since the presidential campaign has become active, our communications have focused upon Donald Trump and his communication style. Not because we are particularly interested in his political positions but because we both recognized that he employed significant communication techniques most people ignored. While most people regard him with intellectual disdain and are appalled by his verbal conduct, we believe there is a substantial amount of unrecognized communication tactics being used either knowingly or not. These are some significant techniques that we all should evaluate. . . .

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Objection! Argumentative!

09 Saturday May 2015

Posted by in Cross-Examination, Direct Examination, Evidence, Making Objections, Objections, Trial Tips and Techniques

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“Objection! Argumentative” Is That Really A Valid Objection During Cross Examination?, by Paul N. Luvera, Plaintiff Trial Lawyer Tips Blog

http://plaintifftriallawyertips.com/objection-argumentative-is-that-really-a-valid-objection-during-cross-examintion

An outstanding Seattle plaintiff’s trial lawyer & I have been discussing the common objection made during cross-examination that the question is ‘argumentative’ because  of a trial we  have a common interest in where the  judge  sustains cross-examination questions that directly challenge the witnesses testimony as untruthful where the objection of ‘argumentative’ is made. My position is that cross-examination is confrontational and a testing ground for witness credibility by challenging the witness. I believe that judges who sustain an objection to the confrontation as ‘argumentative’ do not fully understand the function of cross-examination and the rules of evidence. I decided to share my viewpoint for your consideration. . . .

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Plaintiff Lawyer’s Cross-Examination Outline.

27 Saturday Dec 2014

Posted by in Cross-Examination, Trial Tips and Techniques

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A Cross-Examination Suggestion, by Paul Luvera, Plaintiff Lawyer Tips Blog

http://plaintifftriallawyertips.com/a-cross-examination-suggestion

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 form or it might be a stack of exhibits with tags containing ideas.

I’ve publishing it in its gross form before the additional editing and without explaining the significance of some of the outline as it’s simply an example to illustrate one way to prepare for cross-examination. It would be reviewed and revised and finally end up in a brief outline format. This is how I start the process. . . .

Whatever Can Be Misunderstood, Will Be.

15 Saturday Nov 2014

Posted by in Bad Legal Writing, Editing, Legal Writing, Legalese, Plain Language, Proofreading, Quotations, Readability

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This Should Be Every Trial Lawyer’s Mantra, by Paul Luvera, Plaintiff Trial Lawyer Tips Blog

http://tinyurl.com/myfv5oo

One of my favorite quotations! Mr. Luvera hit the nail on the head, not only for trial presentations, but for any type of writing regardless of your profession. Some people think that their writing should be complex, with lots of Latin, jargon, and legalese. Technical writers often use complicated terms and words understood (barely) by people who work in their industry, but no one else.

Most readers skim or skip the long, single-space block quotations often found in legal briefs. Wouldn’t you? Imagine having to slog through poorly written briefs day after day? Or imagine that you are a juror who must decipher poorly written jury instructions. If what you say is that important, why risk losing the reader even for a moment?

Just like Murphy’s Law, in writing, whatever can be misunderstood, will be. What is the point of writing anything if you are not easily understood? No, you are not “dumbing down” your writing or treating the reader like a child. You are communicating and facilitating your goal — to be understood. -CCE

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