The Trial Practice Tips Weblog

Civility and Litigation

There's a good article about civility in this month's Illinois Bar Journal: "Uncivil Action," by Helen W. Gunnarsson.

Some tips from the lawyers interviewed for the article:

• It's a waste of time to try to outbully a bully; make a decision not to respond to incivility with incivility;
• You can't reform the small percentage of lawyers who use incivility as a litigation tool; those lawyers, though, will become known for their incivility, which will tend to make it harder for their strategy to work;
• Your own bad behavior will come back to bite you; always treat people with courtesy, even when they're inept at doing it themselves.

Here's my own tip: get more sleep. In my experience, many of the ugly outbursts I've witnessed at depositions, which often lead to apologies later, are caused by stress exacerbated by lack of sleep.

Under Consideration: Changes to Illinois Discovery Rules

From Illinois Lawyer Now: "Supreme Court rules committee to hold public hearing on civil discovery proposals"--

The Rules Committee of the Illinois Supreme Court will hear comments at a public hearing on Wednesday, July 28 on three proposals dealing with discovery issues in civil cases.

The hearing is scheduled to be held at 10 a.m., 160N. LaSalle Street, Room C-500 in Chicago.

The first proposal would allow the use, in very limited circumstances, of a party's discovery deposition at trial. The second would allow a lawyer to take a deposition by electronic means (e.g., phone, video) without a court order or consent of the opposing party. The third would allow lawyers to issue subpoenas in civil actions.

There is further information about the proposals and public hearing at the Supreme Court's website.

Reader Input: Send Your Suggestions

As always, readers are welcome to email me with suggestions for topics to cover at The Trial Practice Tips Weblog.

Something new that I should cover? Deposition tips? Trial pointers?

Email me at eschaeffer -at- riverbendlaw.com

Detecting Liars: A New Method?

From Wired Science: "Lie-Detection Brain Scan Could Be Used in Court for First Time"--

A Brooklyn attorney hopes to break new ground this week when he offers a brain scan as evidence that a key witness in a civil trial is telling the truth, Wired.com has learned.

If the fMRI scan is admitted, it would be a legal first in the United States and could have major consequences for the future of neuroscience in court.

It seems unlikely such a scan would be admissible. There are still plenty of low-tech methods of exposing liars, however--see this article at Psychology Today: "Top 10 Secrets of Effective Liars."

Related posts:

1. "Deposition Tip: Help with Sniffing Out the Liars"

2. "Tip for Spotting Liars: Ask for the Story in Reverse"

Navigating Trial Practice Tips by Category

Since I started this weblog in January, 2004, I've written 883 posts, enough for a good-sized book. Most of these posts are assigned to one or more categories. You can get to these categories by clicking on the list that appears on the left side of the weblog. I've also listed the categories here, followed by the number of weblog posts that have been assigned to each:

Appeal 26
Books 26
Class Actions 24
Closing Argument 27
Courtroom Tech 30
Cross-Examination 42
Current Affairs 4
Damages 14
Depositions 147
Direct Examination 14
Discovery 81
Evidence 45
Experts 49
Instructions 10
Law Online 36
Legal Writing 56
Mediation/Arbitration 8
Miscellaneous 78
Motion Practice 36
Opening Statement 19
Pleadings 5
Requests for Admissions 10
Settlement 6
Trial Style 34
Voir Dire 36
Web/Tech 50
Weblogs 24

While this weblog used to be called Illinois Trial Practice, I never focused exclusively on Illinois. I think the new name, Trial Practice Tips, sums up the weblog pretty well. 

How to Organize Simple Cases for Trial Without Software

In his post "A Basic Manual System to Organize Materials for Trial," lawyer Paul Luvera describes a step-by-step procedure for preparing for simple trial matters. He concludes, "This isn’t rocket science and certainly software management is probably superior to my procedure, but for simple cases it works for me." It's worth a read.

Getting the Complete Story from Your Client

Here's a tip from Ashley Lipson's Guerilla Discovery. To insure you're getting the full story from your client, try asking a question something like the following:

I know that you've told me the truth and I believe you. But we have to prepare for those lying S.O.B.'s on the other side. What kind of lies are they going to tell? Tell me what lying description of the events they are going to tell so I can prepare for them.

Lipson suggests this question for deposition preparation, but it might also be useful during initial client interviews. According to Lipson, it's likely you'll hear some things from your client you didn't know before--things you'll need to know about your client's case before getting in too deep.

Another Trial Tips Weblog

Some recent posts at TrialLawyerTips.com, which is primarily plaintiff-oriented:

• "Wrap Up Your Voir Dire With These Questions"
• "Blow Up and Use Your Verdict Form in Closing Argument"
• "During Closing Argument, Always Remind the Jury That This is Their Only Opportunity To Right a Wrong and To Compensate Your Client For Her Losses"

Thanks for the heads up to the weblog's authors, Mitch Jackson and Lisa Wilson.

Views on Trial from a Veteran Trial Lawyer

On his weblog Plaintiff Trial Lawyer Tips, Paul Luvera has published a list of "personal views" about trials, titled "My General Views about Plaintiff Trial Work."

Some of the questions that are answered in the post--

• How a high-low agreement changes trial strategies;
• Should you be chummy with your opponent; why or why not?;
• Who typically wins cases perceived as "complex"?; and
• How a lawyer's ego can get in the way of winning.

Luvera's views are interesting and worth reading.

Illinois: New Ethics Rules

From the Illinois Bar Journal: "Get Ready for Illinois’ New Rules of Professional Conduct," by By Robert A. Creamer--

On July 1, the Illinois Supreme Court announced adoption of a new set of rules of professional conduct for Illinois lawyers that take effect January 1, 2010. This article describes the background of the new Rules and highlights significant changes. The new rules are available on the court’s website . . .

The article is recommended for Illinois lawyers. Meanwhile, the ISBA is offering CLE programs about the new rules--the programs in Springfield and Carbondale are coming up.