Or Better Yet – Ten Cross-Examination GuidelinesThe late, great Professor Irving Younger (whose CLE videotapes are still gems and worth viewing) gave us the ten commandments of cross-examination. He could talk all day about them, using memorable and humorous illustrations. He threatened to haunt his listeners if they ever violated one his ten commandments. These [...]
Humor Makes the PointHumor can be the adhesive to make the point stick. And, the point is that the cross-examiner should know the answer before asking the question or not care what the answer is. Otherwise, as the saying goes, the cross may be “more suicidal than homicidal in nature.” The following transcript of a [...]
Cross-Examination of Hermann GoeringSupreme Court Justice Robert H. Jackson was appointed by President Harry Truman to be the Chief Prosecutor of the 24 defendants who had led the German military and Nazi political establishments. Most notable of the defendants was Field Marshall Hermann Goering. In their article entitled “Guidelines for Cross-Examination: Lessons from the Cross-Examination [...]
If It’s Too Good To Be True, It Probably Is.Nothing makes a point stick like a good illustration, particularly a good movie clip. The Lincoln Lawyer, now in theaters, is a good thriller, and it has a courtroom scene that can teach law students and inexperienced trial lawyers and remind veterans to be wary of [...]
