A common complaint against criminal trial lawyers is that, at bottom, they tend to show little empathy for their clients. We are said to show more concern for ourselves, and our fee, than for the person who, after all, stand accused of a crime and face the daunting power and authority of the police and prosecution. It may be true: the longer the lawyer toils away at this business, the greater the possibility that the lawyer will be insensitive to the particular plight of the individual charged. Continue reading “Meeting the Client: Be Interested, Stay Interested”
In The Beginning There Was Light
The work of a trial lawyer is uniquely difficult. Every line of work has its difficulties, each requires developing certain skills. Most businesses require persuading others about the merit of a product or a service. But trial lawyers have a much higher bar to reach, as Judges are no ordinary people. They are highly educated, experienced and perceptive. And for jury trials, your arguments will need to be understood and accepted by twelve (or fourteen) people at once. You will need to prepare for this task like you have never prepared before.
The Importance of Strategy in a Criminal Trial
The Art of the In-Trial Objection
Objections Generally
No great art is achieved without sacrifice. The best actors, writers and painters labour over their materials, honing and refining them day after day, until they seem “natural” or “spontaneous”. The work of the artist is the work of the trial lawyer. Good advocacy is acquired when the lawyer has the persistence, the patience and the humility to practice and re-practice until the skill she exhibits at trial seems as if it were naturally imparted.
The Art and Plan of Cross-Examination
Cross-examination is a treacherous process, loaded with danger, as so many others have already eloquently stated.2 Indeed, we hear, read and see so much about what decisive effect cross-examination can have in a borderline case that perhaps we create, quite unintentionally, a most undesirable effect: the paralyzing fear of failure. I hope you will humour me a while today; I want to try to alleviate the fear.
Continue reading “The Art and Plan of Cross-Examination”