Persuasion

“Perhaps someone could have made us feel a little more human–at times I felt like rats in a cage.” – Juror The foregoing is the lead quote from a 1998 study from the National Center for State Courts entitled Through the Eyes of the Juror:...

Stage-fright is common among lawyers, criminal defendants, witnesses, jurors and everyone else who appears before a judge and jury. In that regard, I understand that even Yul Brynner, with many performances of The King and I behind him, would still precede his stage appearances with...

In the past, when people asked me if I did family law, I sometimes would respond that I am more than happy for other lawyers to have to deal with levels of obsession among their clients that apparently are much higher than among criminal defense...

In my second semester of law school, my eyes glazed over about the trade-school-sounding aspect of our moot court instructor’s intensely instructing us on the minutiae of using the right color for our appellate legal brief covers – blue for the appellant and red for...

Trial lawyers: Beware when your opponent cuts you off — aside from merely making a non-speaking objection — when you are explaining an objection or other legal argument during a trial or motions hearing. When judges have a busy docket or long day ahead of...

Abbey Road revisited. This morning, a gaggle of geese crossing a busy street gave drivers a chance to step back from their Friday hustle-bustle. I excused myself from my cellphone call to snap this photo. John Johnson emphasized to me the importance of finding quiet and...

Photo from website of U.S. District Court (W.D. Mi.). Even though my own stage fright level by now is at a deep minimum, I still need to understand stage fright and ways to minimize it for my own ongoing journey, and for the sake of...

Photo from website of U.S. District Court (W.D. Mi.). The phone and emails are constantly ringing from clients, witnesses, courts, opposing lawyers, potential clients, and the list goes on. No sooner does one court date finish than the next court date begins. Snail mail is relentless....

Thanks to Ardmore, Pennsylvania, trial lawyer Anna Durbin for authorizing me to post her attached excellent email message responding to a listserv discussion about how lawyers prepare their clients to testify at trial. I have known Anna for many years, through our having attended the Trial...

Photo from website of U.S. District Court (W.D. Mi.). Jurors give scripts to themes, e.g. armed robbery. If prosecution evidence does not fit with the jurors’ scripts — for instance, if the armed robbery defendant looks like a computer nerd who would not and could...