27 09, 2021

Resources: Jury Selection and Unconscious Bias

By |September 27th, 2021|Uncategorized|12,116 Comments

Two valuable resources are available for identifying unconscious juror bias and talking to jurors about it in civil cases. First, the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington created a video about unconscious bias that is shown to prospective jurors as part of their orientation. The video features John C. Coughenour, United [...]

19 06, 2020

LAW SCHOOL TEACHES THREE BAD HABITS

By |June 19th, 2020|Uncategorized|3,717 Comments

Law schools teach three bad habits—ones that are particularly deleterious to pretrial and trial advocates. These three dreadfully bad habits can be broken,  and the means to breaking them are covered here and, in more depth, in Trial Advocacy: Planning, Analysis, and Strategy and Pretrial Advocacy: Planning, Analysis, and Strategy. First, although law schools should [...]

24 05, 2020

Ten Commandments of Pretrial and Trial

By |May 24th, 2020|Uncategorized|15,277 Comments

Irving Younger, the renowned lecturer and professor at Cornell Law School, distilled all the essentials of cross-examination into his Ten Commandments of Cross-Examination. Here are Ten Commandments of Pretrial and Trial Advocacy. As Younger would probably have said, “Violate any of these Commandments and you will regret it instantly and punishment will be immediate.” You [...]

16 10, 2019

ATTORNEY-CLIENT PRIVILEGE HANDBOOK

By |October 16th, 2019|Uncategorized|360 Comments

The Jenner and Block Attorney-Client Privilege Handbook was recently distributed through an email by David Greenwald. Greenwald wrote: This work has evolved from a modest outline inspired by the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Upjohn Co. v. United States more than 30 years ago. Through regular provide practical information for in-house and outside counsel. We [...]

14 08, 2019

GREAT TRIAL LAWYERS STEAL

By |August 14th, 2019|Uncategorized|670 Comments

George R. (Bob) Dekle - A Great Artist “Lesser artists borrow; great artists steal.” This is a statement attributed to Pablo Picasso. The same proposition holds true for great trial lawyers. Lesser trial attorneys borrow; great trial lawyers steal. The greats study what other trial lawyers have done, they remix it and transform it into [...]

29 06, 2019

RACIAL BIAS IN JURY SECLECTION: BATSON AND FLOWERS v. MISSISSIPI

By |June 29th, 2019|Uncategorized|2,859 Comments

On June 21, 2019, the United States Supreme Court in Flowers v. Mississippi reversed the murder conviction and sentence to the death of black defendant Curtis Flowers. Justice Brett Kavanaugh, writing for the majority stated that Curtis Flowers had not been provided with “(e)qual justice under law” because his criminal trial was not “free of [...]

23 01, 2019

PRACTICING YOUR VOIR DIRE

By |January 23rd, 2019|Uncategorized|36,003 Comments

The Critical Importance of Practicing Your Voir Dire By Thomas M. O’Toole, Ph.D. Despite what Allen Iverson might say (search “Allen Iverson” and “practice” on YouTube if you do not get this reference), practice is essential to the successful development of any skillset. In competition, competitors get better by practicing. This is why it is [...]

21 01, 2019

“THE TRIAL FROM HELL” – IT’S TIME FOR TODAY’S TECHNOLOGY

By |January 21st, 2019|Uncategorized|353 Comments

Why is Paper Still King in King County? by Larry Johnson Even though the first 20 years of my practice were spent in civil litigation, my real love since the 1980s was computers, and then, in the 1990s, the emerging Internet.[1] So in 1995 I gladly accepted the invitation from Presiding Judge Dale Ramerman and [...]

19 07, 2018

UNDERSTANDING WASHINGTON’S NEW GENERAL RULE ON RACIAL BIAS IN JURY SELECTION By Thomas M. O’Toole, Ph.D. and Taki V. Flevaris, J.D.

By |July 19th, 2018|Uncategorized|3,304 Comments

In 2018, Washington adopted GR37, which is a new general rule that changes how racial bias in jury selection is addressed. The rule is designed to provide courts with guidance for effectively eliminating racial bias in the use of peremptory strikes. The purpose of this article to explain GR37 and what it means for litigators [...]

15 05, 2018

By |May 15th, 2018|Uncategorized|4,996 Comments

The Washington Supreme Court is the first court in the nation to adopt rules aimed at eliminating implicit bias from jury selection in both civil and criminal cases. The new General Rule 37 (effective April 24, 2018) dramatically alters practices and procedures regarding exercising peremptory challenges. It remains to be seen whether this new rule [...]

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