Have you perfected your process of trial preparation into an art of war? Are you getting all you can out of the opportunities witnesses and opposing counsel let slip during trial? Do your juries leave the courtroom wanting to reach the verdict that you've clearly stated you want? Take your courtroom presentation skills to the next level of excellence with this strategic guide. Order today!

1. Voir Dire/Jury Selection Strategies
2. Opening Statements and Direct Examination
3. Cross-Examination and Redirect – Focus on Experts and Evidence
4. Effective Exhibits and Courtroom Technology
5. Summations and Jury Instructions
6. Roundtable Discussion

Continuing Education Credits:   

* denotes specialty credits

1. VOIR DIRE AND JURY SELECTION STRATEGIES
   9:00 - 10:00, Al W. Johnson
   1. Preparing for Jury Selection – Researching Your “Target Audience”
      (Venue, Juror Pool Demographics, Creating Your “Ideal Juror,” Drafting Surveys/Questionnaires, etc.)
   2. Preparing the Pre-Trial Order
   3. Introducing Your Case During Jury Selection
   4. Bringing to the Surface and Overcoming Juror and Judicial Biases
   5. Reading the Vital Non-Verbal Signals Jurors are Sending
   6. Peremptory and For-Cause Challenge Tactics
2. OPENING STATEMENTS AND DIRECT EXAMINATION
   10:15 - 11:30, Will C.E. Goldstein and Eric M. Selig
   1. Maximizing the Impact of Opening Statements
      (Introducing Case Theme and Key Case Parties; Laying out the Sequence of Events; Introducing Supporting and Damaging Evidence; Preparing Judge and Jury to Focus on Specific Elements of Trial Presentation; Opening Techniques That Simply Don't Work, Cutting Out Unnecessary Clutter)
   2. Preparation Tips for Direct Examination
      (Establishing the Main Theme; Organizing the Order of Testimony; Preparing Witnesses; Formulating Effective Questions)
   3. Areas of Direct Examination
      (Specific Approaches to Impeachment, Fact Testimony, Expert Testimony, Causation, Liability, Damages, Foundation, etc.)
   4. Persuasive Witness Testimony – How to:
      1. Develop the Story and Make it Interesting
      2. Integrate a Theme
      3. Adjust to the Specific Audience
      4. Limit the Scope
      5. Handle and Introduce Exhibits
      6. Authenticate Documents
      7. Humanize Your Witness
      8. Anticipate and Neutralize Cross-Examination
   5. Is Interim Commentary Allowed? How to Use it Well
3. CROSS-EXAMINATION AND REDIRECT – FOCUS ON EXPERTS AND EVIDENCE
   11:30 - 12:30, Al W. Johnson
   1. Advance Uses of Basic Cross-Exam Tools: Bias, Opportunity to Observe, Inconsistency, etc.
   2. Tips for Cross-Examining Difficult Lay Witnesses
   3. Opposing Experts in the Courtroom – Setting Up the Motion to Strike
      1. Timing/Sequence
      2. Phrasing
      3. Detailed Facts
      4. Psychological Components
      5. Advanced Techniques for Getting an Expert Disqualified
   4. Making and Responding to Objections
   5. Relevancy Issues
   6. Addressing Hearsay
   7. Redirect Examination – Taking Advantage of the Often-Overlooked Resource
4. EFFECTIVE EXHIBITS AND COURTROOM TECHNOLOGY
   1:30 - 2:30, Stephen B. Evans
   1. Overcoming Fear and Confronting Technology
   2. Preparing for the Digital Trial
      1. Digital Case Storage and Organization
      2. Authentication of Documents
      3. Document/Exhibit Organization
      4. Preparing the Courtroom and Conditioning the Jury
      5. Blending Technology Use Into Your Presentation for Seamless Delivery
   3. Choosing the Right Method and Form of Exhibit
      (Physical vs. Image; Actual vs. Demonstrative; Budget; Setting; Venue; Subject Matter; Order of Proof; Presenter's Style and Preferences; Comfort Level With Technology)
   4. Does Each of Your Exhibits Pass the 8-Point Test?
   5. What Can the Opposing Counsel do With the Evidence I Introduce?
   6. Video Depositions (Prior Testimony)
      1. Advantages and Pitfalls
      2. When to Use
      3. Rules of Completeness
      4. Objections
      5. Fairness
5. SUMMATIONS AND JURY INSTRUCTIONS
   2:45 - 3:45, Stephen B. Evans
   1. What to Include
   2. Length and Style Tactics
   3. Use of Pace and Voice Inflection to Emphasize Key Elements
   4. Addressing the Weak Points of the Case
   5. The Verdict Sheet/Jury Instructions – Clearly Asking for What You Want
6. ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION
   3:45 - 4:30, Stephen B. Evans, Will C.E. Goldstein, Al W. Johnson and Eric M. Selig
   1. Handling Surprises at Trial – What to do When Unfavorable Facts Surface
   2. Lessons Learned From Experience – Share Your Trial Tips and Techniques

STEPHEN B. EVANS is a principal with the Evans Partnership in St. Louis, Missouri. His practice is focused on protecting the rights of seriously injured victims, as well as family members who have lost a loved one due to the negligent, intentional or reckless behavior of others, in claims arising from automobile collisions, defective products, professional negligence, dangerous premises and wrongful death claims. Mr. Evans was recognized as an advocate by the National College of Advocacy. He has spoken at numerous seminars dealing with liability and injury cases, along with soft tissue trials. Mr. Evans earned his B.A. degree, summa cum laude, from Columbia College and his J.D. degree from the University of Missouri. He is a member of the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis, the Madison County, Henderson County and Illinois State bar associations, The Missouri Bar, The American Association for Justice, the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association and the Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys.

WILL C.E. GOLDSTEIN is a partner with the St. Louis law firm of Moran & Goldstein, L.C., where he concentrates his practice in the areas of criminal defense and plaintiff civil litigation. He received his B.A. degree from Carleton College and his J.D. degree from Washington University. Mr. Goldstein has lectured for National Business Institute, Missouri State Public Defenders, Missouri Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and the St. Louis Bar Association. He has also been involved in teaching mock trials to high school students in St. Louis. He is a past committee chairman for the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis' Criminal Law Section as well as a member of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the Missouri Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. Mr. Goldstein is licensed to practice in Missouri and Illinois.

AL W. JOHNSON maintains his own law office, where he practices in the areas of general civil litigation, police misconduct, business and consumer torts/fraud, conversion, defamation/slander/libel, malicious prosecution, tortious interference, covenants not to compete, personal injury, premises liability, Qui Tam litigation, white collar criminal defense, class actions, civil rights, taser, sexual harassment, and unlawful merchandising practices (§407). He is a career litigator, having tried more than 60 jury trials and hundreds of non-jury trials. Mr. Johnson has successfully represented a number of clients in police abuse cases and has had success in making a substantial financial recovery. He earned his B.A. and J.D. degrees from the University of Missouri, Columbia. Mr. Johnson worked as an assistant prosecuting attorney in St. Louis County under George "Buzz" Westfall, as a trial staff member handling numerous major criminal prosecutions. He became an associate with the St. Louis County firm of Belz & Beckemeier and then started his own practice as The Law Offices of Al W. Johnson. In 2001, Mr. Johnson was honored by Missouri Lawyer's Weekly as one of Missouri's ten Attorneys of the Year. He also is licensed to practice in the State of Illinois. Mr. Johnson is a member of the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis, The Missouri Bar, Illinois State Bar Association, the National Bar Association, The Association of Trial Lawyers of America, The National Lawyers Association, and the Christian Legal Society.

ERIC M. SELIG is an attorney in the law firm of Rosenblum, Schwartz, Rogers & Glass, P.C. Mr. Selig's main areas of practice are criminal defense and civil commitment. In 2004, he was a co-recipient of the Missouri Association of Criminal Defense Attorney's Atticus Finch Award for Trial Excellence. Mr. Selig has been asked to provide legal analysis for MSNBC. He graduated with a B.A. degree in history from Emory University in 1989. He received his J.D. degree from Washington University School of Law in 1992. Mr. Selig was licensed to practice law in the state of Missouri in 1992 and the state of Vermont in 1998. He began his legal career as a trial attorney in the St. Louis City Public Defenders Office and State of Vermont Defender Generals Office, where he tried more than 25 felony jury trials. He was then selected as a member of the Missouri Civil Commitment Defense Task Force and has tried more than 20 civil commitment jury trials.

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