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
Podcast - Impeaching with a Deposition
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
Podcast - Cross-Examination: Don't Argue - Elicit Facts
Cross-Examination: Asking the Right Leading Questions
Podcast - Cross-Examination: The Importance of Organization
Work This Way: A Labor & Employment Law Podcast - Episode 20: Tips for Court Cases with Judge Dennis and Judge Wilkins of Maynard Nexsen
Understanding When to Cross-Examine
Podcast - Cross-Examination: Basic Approaches
The "Why" of Cross-Examination
Basic Points to Consider in Redirect Examination
David F. Johnson co-authored a paper entitled “Voir Dire (In a Post Covid World)” with Jason Smith of the Law Offices of Jason Smith for the State Bar of Texas’s Business Disputes Course, held in Austin, Texas, on September...more
It is 2022 and we are ready to be back in the courtroom. For the past two years, most civil trials have come to a grinding halt due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, lawyers, judges and litigants alike are eager to return to...more
If we rewind to about two years ago, as we were getting confirmations of a novel virus in China, few of us at the time would have had the imagination to envision the scope of disruption and devastation that would follow in...more
Every jury selection involves a variety of issues relating to how potential jurors could feel about the specific case. But there is one issue that is relevant in every current jury selection for an in-person trial: What is...more
With the emergence of new COVID-19 variants and vaccine hesitancy among some in the United States, a “return to normal” for in-person jury trials remains elusive. Courts that postponed jury trials until they could be held...more
The American civil jury trial was on life support before the pandemic. For a generation at least, the trend has been toward a reduced scope for a jury’s decision, an expansion in the power of judges to resolve things in...more
With mounting frustration over the duration and human cost of the Coronavirus pandemic, along with the sluggish pace of vaccinations in many parts of the country, President Joe Biden, this past week, threw down the gauntlet...more
We’ve now had quite some time to settle into the coronavirus and its social restrictions. If you are like me, you might have even developed a twitch every time you hear the phrase “New normal.” We know that we are living in...more
It is obvious that we live in a time of extraordinary polarization, and we are in the midst of an election that is bringing that schism into even starker contrast. Red and blue Americans differ in our demographics, our...more
There’s something that judges will often tell potential jurors at the start of the voir dire process: “We know jury duty is an inconvenience, but it is a necessary duty.” But what if it is more than an inconvenience? What if...more
The Eleventh Judicial Circuit in Miami-Dade County held Florida’s first “remote trial.” Jury selection was conducted remotely through Zoom, and the actual trial occurred in the courtroom with social distancing and masks. This...more
We are, of course, still in the midst of the pandemic, and if the question is, “How are people feeling about that?” there is not just one answer. There isn’t even a good answer that can be accurately expressed as an average....more
Experienced trial attorneys know that jurors are not interchangeable empty vessels. Each juror enters the jury box with a wide range of experiences, beliefs and attitudes, and may be more or less inclined toward reaching a...more
In courtrooms making tentative steps toward reopening to in-person jury trials, some of the parties have called for increased use of juror questionnaires, ideally filled out ahead of time either by mail or online. This makes...more
As the number of our posts on attitude changes in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic reaches double digits, astute readers will note that there are some apparent inconsistencies emerging in the reports. For example, the...more
It is taking a while to get back to normal, isn’t it? As states and businesses are starting to re-engage after the coronavirus isolation, courts are taking their time. The chances for routine scheduling, particularly for...more
The Coronavirus is exaggerated, the fatality numbers are being cooked, and the media is just hyping the crisis for political reasons. The treatments are being kept from us, and the quarantine is just a dry run for an upcoming...more
During the current coronavirus pandemic, there have been individual differences in the degree of compliance with the social restrictions coming down from city mayors and state governors. As I have written, some of the support...more