The Illinois Trial Practice Weblog

Navigating Illinois Trial Practice by Category: An Update

Since I started this weblog in January, 2004, I've written 751 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 25
Books 19
Class Actions 23
Closing Argument 26
Courtroom Tech 30
Cross-Examination 34
Current Affairs 4
Damages 14
Depositions 118
Direct Examination 12
Discovery 70
Evidence 42
Experts 43
Instructions 9
Law Online 33
Legal Writing 41
Mediation/Arbitration 8
Miscellaneous 60
Motion Practice 34
Opening Statement 18
Pleadings 5
Requests for Admissions 8
Settlement 5
Trial Style 30
Voir Dire 34
Web/Tech 27
Weblogs 16

One other thing to point out: despite the title of this weblog, the majority of my posts aren't limited to Illinois. I probably should have called this the Trial Practice Weblog, but then the Illinois-specific posts wouldn't have been confusing. Consider the current weblog title a compromise of sorts.

Illinois Trial Practice, Coming to You This Month from Argentina

Andrea and I have taken Schaeffer & Lamere on the road. This month we're in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Details (if you want them) here at Legal Underground.

UPDATE: Other posts from Buenos Aires:

1. Argentina #2
2. Argentina #3
3. Argentina #4--Tigre and the Delta
4. Argentina #5--Sidetrip to Uruguay
5. Argentina #6--If You're Going to Spend a Month in Buenos Aires, the "Paris of South America."

Learn about Federal Multidistrict Litigation

Every litigator should have a working knowledge of the ins and outs of federal multidistrict litigation.

Although at Legal Underground, I've done my best to explain how things work by posting about the MDL panel now and then, my tone over there is a bit too tongue-in-cheek for some. If you want a more meaty, serious introduction to federal multidistrict litigation, take a look at the Thompson West webpage, "Unraveling the Mystery about Multidistrict Litigation." 

The Thompson West webpage contains a very good, free interview with David Herr, the author of Multidistrict Litigation Manual. You'll also find a free link to Herr's whitepaper on federal multidistrict litigation. Recommended.

Link from ISBA Legal News. Follow up post here, containing more free resources.

Trial Notebooks: An Alternative Method

As an alternative to an earlier post, "A Method for Organizing a Trial Notebook," here's another method of organization, as suggested in a book by Leonard H. Bucklin--

• The Plan
• Summary
• Pretrial Orders
• Our Witnesses
• Their Witnesses
• Third-Party Witnesses
• Our Experts
• Their Experts
• Exhibit List
• Contacts
• Deposition Summaries
• Deposition Arrangements
• Damages
• Pleadings
• Admissions
• Trial Memo
• Motions in Limine
• Motions and Orders
• Voir Dire and Juror List
• Opening and Closing
• Jury Instructions
• Settlement
• Insurance

The list is from Bucklin's Building Trial Notebooks (James Publishing). I agree with Bucklin that "your trial notebook should be your primary file in a litigation case." As Bucklin adds, "When a litigation case is started, that is also the time to start your trial notebook for that case."

Related post: "Motivating Yourself for Trial: Start a Notebook Early."

Stipulations That Will Streamline Trial

The July, 2008 issue of Trial Magazine is devoted to "Trial Techniques" and contains an article by Elliott Wilcox titled "Sifting the issues with stipulations." (AAJ membership required unfortunately, or get it at the library.)

It's an article that's equally useful to lawyers for the plaintiff or defense.  Wilcox examines stipulation on the following issues:

• Prior deposition testimony;
• Authenticity of documents or business records;
• Other evidentiary foundations;
• Stock photos and diagrams;
• Sworn statements in lieu of live testimony;
• Percentages of fault or loss;
• Witness credentials;
• Admissibility of demonstrative exhibits;
• Allowing witnesses to testify by alternative means;
• Allowing witnesses to testify out of order;
• Technical and scientific literature;
• Suspending standard testimony requirements;
• Indisputable facts.

Other articles in the trial-techniques issue of Trial include "What can a mock trial tell you?" by Anne W. Reed, "Shield your client from defense attacks," by Cindy L. Nations, and "Direct examination of lay witnesses," by Charles G. Monnett III and Randall J. Phillips.

The NLJ's Litigators of the Year, Each with a Unique Story

From the National Law Journal Winning report: "Successful Strategies From Top Litigators"--

The lawyers featured in The National Law Journal's 2008 Winning special report share a knack for artfully swaying judges and juries and taking risks when they see the opportunity to seize an advantage in the courtroom. We chose the victors of 10 cases from scores of nominations offered from firms of all sizes from just about every state in the union.

I'm a fan of the National Law Journal's yearly Winning reports. Go to the linked page to see separate profiles of ten top lawyers and their unique trial stories, always a good source for tips, tricks, and inspiration. The linked page also contains a way to find the 2007 winners (subscription required).

Informing Yourself about Your Adversary: Google Is Your Friend

Here's an interesting post from David Swanner of the South Carolina Trial Law Blog: "How to Ace a Job Interview with Me"--

One of the first questions I ask is “What do you know about me?” It amazes me the number of people of people that don’t even take the time and effort to type my name in Google and see what pops up. I have a reasonable internet presence and to not even look at my website or weblog, before coming to the interview is slack. I don’t expect someone to know everything about me, but to not even look at the website and the areas of practice shows a profound lack of interest, that I find unattractive in a job candidate.

It's excellent advice, but it doesn't apply only to job interviews. Why not get in the habit of using Google to get some intelligence on the lawyers you come across in your day-to-day practice? You don't have to limit yourself to your adversaries, as the title of this post suggests. Use the strategy on others as well--your co-counsel, lawyers with whom you are negotiating a deal, judges and mediators, etc.

I've found Google to be a great help during those first ten minutes of every meeting where the parties engage in small talk to tease out things they have in common. You'll get a head start if you know where the others went to school, how long they've practiced, what they've published. And if they turn out to be webloggers like David Swanner, then you've hit the jackpot: as Dave points out, it's likely you'll  find out just about everything that's important to know, including, when applicable, that you're meeting with anything but a "high falutin’ person."

New Free Resource for Lawyers

Mentor CLE offers free online video CLE courses on a number of topics, some tailored specifically to Illinois lawyers, some not. Examples:

• Building Your Law Practice
• Suing Securities Professionals
• Zoning and the First Amendment
• Landlord and Tenant Law
• Small Law Office Management

You'll undoubtedly find something of interest on the site. You can view the presentations for free or pay $19.95/hour to receive IL MCLE credit.

I'll have a future post about Helen Gunnarsson's lecture, "Persuasive Writing for Lawyers," another one of the free offerings.

Streamline Your Plaintiffs Practice

I liked this post from Dave Swanner at the South Carolina Trial Law Blog: "My Goals for the Firm for 2008."

Swanner's post has some good ideas for streamlining a plaintiffs practice. If you happen to be of the plaintiffs-practice persuasion, be sure to take a look.

Tip for New Lawyers: Learn by Example

As I've written before, one of the best ways to learn deposition techniques is to pay attention to lawyers who are more experienced that you -- most particularly, your opponents.

After all, it's one thing to read how to do a thing, or have it explained to you, but it's quite another to learn from the example of someone who actually knows how to do it better than you do.

This trick of learning by example applies not only to depositions, but to any area of legal practice. Here are some other skills a litigation lawyer can learn from a more-experienced opponent--

• How to strategize during discovery;
• How to write effective interrogatories and requests for admissions;
• How to object to improper discovery;
• How to write letters about discovery disputes;
• How to write an effective brief;
• How to argue a motion in front of the court;
• How to move a case forward by taking an effective deposition;
• How to keep an opponent on the offensive;
• How to make a compelling case for your client at the beginning of a mediation;
• How to present direct testimony during trial;
• How to cross-examine during trial;
• How to persuade a jury at trial during voir dire, opening, and closing.

To take advantage of this learning-from-your-opponents idea, all you have to do is make a file, which will get larger and larger over the months and years, and then resolve to pay attention during your normal day to what other lawyers are doing and how they are doing it.

Use your file to collect all the best form-worthy materials you come across in your practice, as well as all the notes you take about new tricks and techniques you've learned from your opponents.

Finally, remember to be humble enough to acknowledge that it's possible to learn something from an opponent. For many lawyers, this is probably the largest impediment to an ability to learn by example.