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
Trial by Tech: The Evolution of the Digital Courtroom – Speaking of Litigation Video Podcast
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
In civil litigation, depositions are a key pretrial discovery tool used to uncover facts, obtain admissions, gather evidence for motions, and assess witnesses. They prevent “trial by ambush” by revealing crucial information...more
Ten is the presumptive upper limit on the number of depositions that each party may take in civil litigation in the federal courts. This number, provided by Rule 30(a)(2) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, can be...more
3: Preparing Your Inside Team - Preservation, Privilege, Potential Pitfalls -This is the third in a series of articles that explores considerations and suggested actions for in-house counsel who are inexperienced in patent...more
With the COVID pandemic, remote video depositions and trial testimony very quickly went from rare to routine. Remote testimony, for the most part, is viewed as a convenience to both witnesses and attorneys, and parties and...more
A recent blog post here examined the circumstances under which a prevailing party in litigation can obtain reimbursement for deposition-related costs in federal courts. The rules are complicated, constrained by the statutory...more
It is not uncommon in litigation for parties to introduce testimony through depositions taken for use at trial. It is very uncommon, though, for a party to request to use their own deposition testimony as their trial...more
Dismissal of a lawsuit is a rare sanction for a discovery violation, but it happened recently in a workplace discrimination lawsuit, due in large part to two probing depositions that called into question one party’s assertion...more
In this episode of "The Trial Lawyer's Handbook" podcast series, litigation attorney Dan Small explores how to avoid asking leading questions during direct examination. The Federal Rules of Evidence state that lawyers should...more
Though typically conducted in a conference room, a deposition can take place in many locations and through a variety of methods. So long as you capture a verbatim record, either face-to-face or remotely through the use of...more
As litigators know, the United States follows the so-called “American Rule” when apportioning the costs of litigation. Unless a statute specifically provides otherwise, parties in court are responsible for their own...more
Way back in April 2020, during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, a federal magistrate judge in Colorado had already seen enough to offer the following plea that lawyers reassess their habit of traveling long distances...more
Deposition transcripts, like other pretrial discovery materials, do not become public records until they’re filed with the court. Before they are filed with the court, they routinely dwell in obscurity, shielded from public...more
The international law firm McGuire Woods recently published a news note, Virginia Court Holds School Board Immune From Virginia Human Rights Act Claims, explaining how a local school board successfully raised a sovereign...more
No other pretrial discovery process rivals the deposition for its ability to alter the course of civil litigation. Depositions alone bring litigators face-to-face with key witnesses, experts, and the parties themselves in a...more
Yes absolutely, but with one caveat. Counsel should not overlook the requirement to carefully document the necessity of any costs claimed to be taxable. This includes costs for videotape copies of depositions....more
The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) can be intricate and confusing, especially when it comes to the interplay between various rules. Few aspects of civil litigation present potential pitfalls such as amending and...more
For many attorneys, the prospect of a U.S. Supreme Court argument serves as the capstone of a legal career. But for a select few, like Kannon Shanmugam, chair of Paul Weiss’s Supreme Court and Appellate Practice Group,...more
Does the thought of improperly preparing subpoenas for litigation keep you up at night? Given the heavy workloads and tight deadlines attorneys and paralegals routinely face, it’s all too easy for errors to slip through in...more
The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure liberally enable parties to seek relevant information in discovery that may be helpful in the preparation and trial of a case. While the liberal scope of discovery permitted by the...more
The COVID-19 pandemic taught the legal community that technology can be deployed to effectively serve clients and resolve disputes remotely, if necessary. Suddenly stripped of their ability to meet in-person, lawyers and...more
Nebraska has become the latest state to modernize its rules for taking depositions across state lines. The UIDDA is now effective in 43 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. On Jan. 27, the Nebraska...more
How many lawyers does it take to handle a case? Well, usually two, one for the trial and another one for the appeal. And that’s because the functions and procedures in the trial court differ so widely between the courts’...more
A civil jury trial is a risky proposition in any court, state or federal. To manage that risk, it is usually in each party’s interest to engage in some form of alternative dispute resolution, or ADR. Knowledge of the local...more
For litigation attorneys, the wrap-up process at the close of a deposition is a familiar scenario: The taking attorney will state that he or she has no further questions, after the opposing attorneys have done the same. The...more
Ipro’s Top 10 Legal Technology Memes for 2019 - A sense of humor isn’t required to work in eDiscovery. But it sure does help! To wrap up 2019 and continue celebrating our industry, Ipro has compiled our top Legal...more