Podcast - The Basic Rules for Closing Argument
Closing Arguments: Focus and Organization
Closing Argument: Opportunity and Challenge
How to Make Clear, Quick and Effective Objections
More on Cross-Examination: Building a Case Brick by Brick
Podcast - Cross-Examination: Don't Ask One Question Too Many
Podcast - The Ten Commandments of Cross-Examination
Podcast - Refresh vs. Impeach: Know the Difference
The Justice Insiders Podcast: Jarkesy’s Implications for the Administrative State
Podcast - Cross-Examination of Expert Witnesses
Cross-Examination: The Three C’s of Impeachment
Cross-Examination: How to Effectively Impeach with a Prior Inconsistent Statement
Cross-Examination: Finding Control
DE Under 3: OFCCP Must Shut Down its Administrative Court Prosecutions as a Result of SCOTUS’ SEC Jury Trial Case Decision
Podcast - Cross-Examination: Don't Argue - Elicit Facts
Cross-Examination: Asking the Right Leading Questions
Podcast - Cross-Examination: The Importance of Organization
Understanding When to Cross-Examine
Podcast - Cross-Examination: Basic Approaches
The "Why" of Cross-Examination
Wenzel v. Homeowners Choice Prop. & Cas. Ins. Co., Fla. 4th DCA, 4D2023-0088, Apr. 24, 2024 - Following a jury trial, the circuit court entered a directed verdict for the insurer and set aside the jury’s verdict, concluding...more
The Supreme Court of Virginia taught appellate practitioners yet another hard lesson in how procedural pitfalls can scuttle otherwise compelling appeals. In Eckard v. Commonwealth, the pitfall was failing to get the complete...more
In today’s legal landscape, the defense industry faces the unprecedented challenge of Nuclear Verdicts®. They pose a financial threat to businesses and individuals alike. It is vital for defense attorneys to embrace a...more
Movies and television shows often inaccurately depict the courtroom. We usually attribute it to “entertainment.” But what if parts of what they show are accurate? What if the outlandish and unpredictable results depicted can...more
What is a Nuclear Verdict®? We have all heard news of juries awarding incomprehensible piles of money in lawsuits where the injuries and the verdict just don’t seem to add up. These cases may leave you scratching your head...more
Donald Trump’s jury trial rights under Apprendi v. United States, 530 U.S. 466 (2000), were almost certainly violated, but whether he will get relief on such grounds is a different story. In Apprendi, the Supreme Court held...more
As civil jury trials continue to become more scarce, the need to reasonably assess what result a jury would return in trial becomes even more important. Even when the trial does not happen — especially when it does not happen...more
On May 29, 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a motion for final judgment, seeking to impose civil penalties in its first enforcement action brought on the theory of “shadow trading.”...more
The use of special interrogatories given to juries to render verdicts has been said to be “admittedly fraught with many pitfalls in the potential conflicts between the general verdict and the interrogatories,” and is “nothing...more
What attracts many lawyers to appellate practice—besides an unusual appetite for legal writing and a general distaste for contentious discovery—is the confidence that fire drills and surprises rarely occur. Appellate briefing...more
On Friday, April 5, a California federal jury found a former Medivation executive liable for insider trading under the novel liability theory of “shadow trading,” following an eight-day trial and less than three hours of...more
We previously blogged about the hotly contested dispute between AECOM and FlatIron involving the I-70 construction project outside of Denver. After an 18-day trial, the jury returned a verdict last month for plaintiff AECOM...more
A federal jury in California agreed with the SEC that a corporate official engaged in insider trading when he purchased securities of a company based on material nonpublic information (“MNPI”) about a different company. The...more
Obtaining the exequatur of US judgments in France can be complex, as these rulings might not include a clear statement of reasons, which is one of the conditions required by the French judge for obtaining the exequatur....more
Jury trials are expensive. They disrupt jurors’ lives for days or weeks,. They demand the complete attention of court personnel. They require witnesses to make time for court appearances and travel to and from the courthouse....more
The risk of a large verdict has always been a major factor in any litigation. In recent years, the potential for a punitive damages instruction reaching a jury and a consequent verdict has grown as well. US juries have not...more
Most readers of this blog rarely, if ever, become involved in homicide cases. Nevertheless, the Supreme Court’s essentially unanimous decision in McElrath v. Georgia should be of interest because it deals with the issue of...more
The role of juries in adjudicating cases has long been the subject of consternation and debate by those in the legal system. In civil jury trials, the jury acts as the fact-finder and must determine the proper level of...more
Join Robins Kaplan for this year’s Trial Advocacy Seminar, ‘Know Your Story. Tell Your Story,’ where we unravel the art of persuasive storytelling. We will explore how attorneys can captivate juries and influence legal...more
After years of litigation involving state, federal, Irish, and (to a lesser extent) Swiss law; transfers of numerous assets, including Ireland’s priciest-personal residence; a jury trial; and extensive post-trial briefing,...more
As any seasoned trial attorney will tell you, one of the key events during a jury trial is the reading of the jury instructions to the jury. During the reading of the instructions, for a lengthy amount of time, the jury hears...more
A federal judge in the Northern District of Illinois vacated a $228 million damages award issued following the first-ever jury verdict in an Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (Privacy Act or BIPA) class action and...more
Earlier this month, a federal judge in the Eastern District of Michigan overturned a jury verdict of nearly $105 million against Ford Motor Company for breach of contract and misappropriation of trade secrets. Finding that...more
As jury verdicts across the country are on an upward trajectory into the hundreds of millions and in some cases billions of dollars, this calls for a different litigation and trial strategy to contain the awards and minimize...more
Question: How did the jury arrive at the decision to award the plaintiff $20 million in damages? Actual Juror #1: We came up with a percentage approach, and that’s what we all discussed. We started with what she was asking...more