The Staircase Illustrates Advocacy TechniquesThe Staircase is an excellent tool for teaching pretrial and trial advocacy. French director Jean-Xavier de Lestrade made this film after he won an Oscar for Murder on a Sunday Morning, a documentary about a murder in Florida. Murder on a Sunday Morning is about achieving justice and tells a compelling [...]
Two Dozen Advocacy Movies This is a list of two-dozen of my favorite 4-star trial advocacy movies. The movie descriptions include some background – most of the movies are based on actual cases. Movie clips can enliven a trial advocacy lecture, and, included in parentheses are what the film clips from the movies can be [...]
To Know Him Was To Love HimThe Great Dan McCarthy died on Valentine’s Day, and he’s probably up there with some wry remark about that. Dan was a Bronx Assistant District Attorney whom I had the great good fortune to get to know when I worked for the National College of District Attorneys and he [...]
The Value of Video Jennifer Shapiro, pictured here, stands before a jury of her peers – students in her comprehensive trial advocacy class at Seattle University Law School. She delivers her first opening statement in the class. It’s not her first opening because she has competed in mock trials before.As she delivers the opening, a [...]
Visit www.aspenadvocacybooks.com for Valuable Resources Pretrial Advocacy and Trial Advocacy is a Website that gives valuable resources to trial advocates, law professors, and law students.For PRETRIAL ADVOCACY the Web site provides the following useful material:Justice Paul Anderson’s article: “Fielding Difficult Questions from the Bench;”Sample Complaints;Sample Answers;Sample Motions – Motion to Compel and Motion for Summary [...]
Great Opening Statements and Closing ArgumentsThis last recommended summer read – In the Interest of Justice – Great Opening and Closing Arguments of the Last 100 Years, HarperCollins Publishers, 2004 – is a gift to trial lawyers. The gift to trial lawyers is given by author Joel J. Seidemann, who is a Manhattan Assistant District [...]
A Web Site Chock-Full with Valuable ResourcesPretrial Advocacy and Trial Advocacy is a Website designed to offer valuable resources for trial advocates, law professors, and law students learning about trial advocacy.This Advocacy Web site contains:Trial transcripts including personal injury and the Sonics’ trial;Juror questionnaire;Sample trial motion;Preview of the Freck Point Trial demonstration movie;Links to worthwhile [...]
Really Understanding Your CaseThis Tuesday evening, my Seattle University Law School Pretrial Advocacy class, Judge Dean Lum (my co-teacher) and I visited The Garage tavern in the Capitol Hill neighborhood. During the Pretrial Ad course, the law students work with cases growing out of a Saturday night shooting in The Garage tavern. The shooting led [...]
The Staircase Movie is Most InstructiveTrial work is theater work, and, movies can provide accurate illustrations of the best and worst trial techniques and strategies. Also, movie making and trial practice are very much about storytelling. Besides that, a good movie clip can enliven any lecture or discussion of trial practice. That’s why movies are [...]
VIDEO REVIEW TIPSEach of us is our own worst critic. That is why a video review is such a valuable tool in pretrial, trial and appellate advocacy training. For that matter, a video review is an excellent aid for any education in public speaking. When an attorney or law student watches a video of their [...]
