The JustPod: A murder-for-hire allegation, public corruption trial, and notable acquittal
Key Discovery Points: If You Dispose of Relevant Hard Drives You Will Face (Some) Consequences
Key Discovery Point: Collecting Hyperlinked File Versions – Contemporaneous or “As Sent”?
Podcast - The 3 Core Themes of Trial Law: Do the Right Thing
Aligning Business Goals with Legal Strategies Amid Regulatory Change – Speaking of Litigation Video Podcast
House Final Settlement Hearing: Key Insights and Future Implications for NIL — Highway to NIL Podcast
The 3 Core Themes of Trial Law: Tell Your Story
What Were the Cooler Wars? (Part 2) — No Infringement Intended Podcast
eDiscovery Case Law Podcast: How Failing to Meet and Confer Effectively Can Lead to Sanctions
The JustPod: Lawyer, Gentleman, and Counsel to the Stars: A Discussion with Brian McMonagle
The Subpoena Playbook
Podcast - The 3 Core Themes of Trial Law: Know Your Court
Podcast - Real Justice for Real People
The Briefing: Diana Copeland – “Surviving R. Kelly” But Not Netflix’s Motion to Dismiss
(Podcast) The Briefing: Diana Copeland – “Surviving R. Kelly” But Not Netflix’s Motion to Dismiss
Key Discovery Points: Timing is Mostly Everything in eDiscovery
The JustPod: The King of Cross: A Discussion with Larry Pozner, a Leading Expert on Cross-Examination
Bar Exam Toolbox Podcast Episode 305: Spotlight on Civil Procedure (Part 2 – Discovery)
There Is No Right Path
Mock Jury Exercises: Enhancing Litigation Strategy in Consumer Financial Services Cases — The Consumer Finance Podcast
Three years of law school can teach us many things. But what they do not do very well—as we typically discover soon after graduating—is prepare us for the actual practice of law. For those of us who always planned to be...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
You don't need us to tell you that trials are increasingly rare. So when heading to trial, trial counsel must know their client's story and must be prepared to tell that story to the trier of fact—a feat that requires...more
The instructions for jurors are clear: They are to take an issue that has no effect on them, listen dispassionately to the evidence and arguments, apply the facts to the law, and make a decision. That is the model, but in...more
Recognizing and reducing bias is obviously essential in a litigation context. But when it comes to “de-biasing,” it helps to see instructions as one tool in the toolbox, but not a tool that’s guaranteed to fix everything. In...more
Jurors are often put in the position of assessing the probability or risk of something at the time a decision was made, before the consequences can be known. “How likely is it that a given result will be the outcome from a...more
Traditionally, we might think about what happens in the jury room as a kind of “Black box,” an unknown process with jurors keeping their secrets on how they got to their verdicts. In practice, however, we know a fair amount...more
What do you get when you mix a severed finger, a persnickety trial judge, and a global denial of objections to jury charges? Yet another reminder to make timely and specific objections to jury instructions, even when doing so...more
HAFCO FOUNDRY AND MACHINE CO. v. GMS MINE REPAIR - Before Newman, Chen, and Stoll. Opinion filed per curiam. Appeal from the Southern District of West Virginia. Summary: Objections to jury instructions should be timely...more
There is a persistent belief among many mock jurors that I have seen in certain kinds of cases. The belief is that liability attaches automatically to possession, and jurors usually express it through the lens of home...more
In the real world, disputes are often settled by someone with more or better knowledge, or at least someone claiming to have more or better knowledge. The courtroom, however, is different. It is a setting that is designed to...more
Whenever I am running a mock trial and playing the role of the judge, I read the instructions out loud to the mock jurors while they also read along using their own paper copies. I sometimes think that is overkill: If it were...more
Who is a juror? Experienced legal persuaders know a juror isn’t just a passive receptacle for your arguments, and isn’t just an instrument, a route or obstacle to your preferred verdict in the case. Instead, a juror is fully...more
Persuading a group that will then go off and deliberate is a unique persuasive setting. In a way, it can be called ‘Second Order’ persuasion, because it isn’t just about the person being convinced in the moment they’re...more
This will likely be the last piece I write on last month’s trial. We are scheduled to start another trial in January 2018, with additional trials in April and May, and they may gin up some additional insights that I think...more
In Byrd v. Stubbs, 190 So. 3d 26 (Miss. Ct. App. 2016), the Mississippi Court of Appeals reminded us of the need to be diligent during a charge conference by raising specific objections to a proposed jury instruction, as...more
This chart provides a quick reference regarding motions and objections that may be made immediately prior to, during, and immediately after trial to preserve issues for appellate review. ...more
I recently attended an all day CLE which featured a Q&A/panel discussion of 5 excellent NC Superior Court trial judges discussing civil litigation in NC. Below are my top 12 take-aways...more