A couple of weeks ago, I was in court to help pick a jury in a high-value case. During that early phase of jury selection, the gallery was full to capacity with potential jurors, the counsel and parties were present, the...more
I remember listening to Justice Frank Cleckley of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, my professor for Evidence, open his first lecture with a discussion of Federal Rule of Evidence 103. As a young law student, I was...more
My new favorite judge is The Honorable R. David Proctor, chief U.S. district judge for the Northern District of Alabama. I love his Nov. 26, 2024 order granting an Opposed Motion Extension of Time to respond to a complaint....more
As a national trial consulting firm, we are often asked to assist with jury selection in jurisdictions where lead counsel has been admitted pro hac vice and may not be closely familiar with the standards and procedures for...more
As frequent readers of this blog are no doubt aware, the ten-volume practice treatise entitled Commercial Litigation in New York State Courts and edited by distinguished commercial practitioner Robert L. Haig (the “Haig...more
As practitioners and readers of this blog are aware, responsive pleadings are foundational documents prepared at the earliest stage of a litigation in which the responding party denies, admits, or states that she lacks...more
September 6, 2022 Every appellate attorney’s dream is a well-developed record on appeal without any unpreserved errors. But that is not always possible. The recent amendment to Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.530(a), issued...more
My daughter is a figure skater — the kind of skater who practices six days a week. Each one of the complex jumps that a skater executes involves dozens of fine-motor movements that need to be encoded into the skater’s muscle...more
Trial advocacy is a mix of law and theater, requiring a lawyer to know both the law and their audience. Attorneys must effectively argue their client’s case using the evidence and the jury instructions to show their client is...more
In 2017, Mexico’s congress approved a key amendment to its Federal Commercial Code. The amendment is now driving dramatic changes to the country’s trial process. One of those changes — a shift from written to oral proceedings...more