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

1. VOIR DIRE AND JURY SELECTION STRATEGIES
   9:00 - 10:00, Willie T. Abston
   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 - 12:00, Willie T. Abston
   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
   1:00 - 2:15, Willie T. Abston
   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
   2:30 - 3:45, Robert L. Gibbs
   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
   3:45 - 4:15, Willie T. Abston
   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
   4:15 - 4:30, Willie T. Abston, Robert L. Gibbs
   1. Handling Surprises at Trial – What to do When Unfavorable Facts Surface
   2. Lessons Learned From Experience – Share Your Trial Tips and Techniques

WILLIE T. ABSTON is a partner in the law firm of Butler, Snow, O'Mara, Stevens and Cannada, PLLC, in the Tort, Transportation and Insurance Group, where his areas of emphasis include general litigation, personal injury and transportation law/trucking defense. Mr. Abston is a member of the American Bar Association (Workers’ Compensation and Tort, Trial and Insurance sections), the National Bar Association, The Mississippi Bar (Workers' Compensation/ Executive Committee/former chair), and the Magnolia and Hinds County bar associations. He earned his B.A. degree from the University of California at Los Angeles and his J.D. degree from Mississippi College.

ROBERT L. GIBBS is an accomplished trial attorney with Brunini, Grantham, Grower & Hewes, PLLC, whose practice emphasizes mass tort litigation, business litigation, product liability and alternative dispute resolution. Prior to joining Brunini, he served for seven years as a circuit judge for the 7th Judicial District of Mississippi. Mr. Gibbs has been honored numerous times for legal acumen and practice excellence, and is among less than 1% of attorneys in the nation to be named to Chambers USA, a London-based published guide to America's leading lawyers. He is also ranked in the prestigious Best Lawyers in America directory. Additionally, Mr. Gibbs is the recipient of the Thurgood Marshall Judge Award, the Jack Young Sr. Attorney Award from the Jackson Branch NAACP and the Award of Distinction from The Mississippi Bar. He has previously spoken on topics related to his areas of expertise and he serves as an adjunct professor on trial practice at Mississippi College School of Law. Mr. Gibbs earned his B.S. degree, cum laude, from Tougaloo College, his J.D. degree from University of Mississippi and he is a graduate of the National Judicial College. He is admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit and all federal and state courts in Mississippi. Mr. Gibbs formerly served as president of the Bar Association of the 5th Circuit, president of the Charles Clark Chapter of the American Inns of Court and president of The Mississippi Bar Foundation. Currently he is a Fellow of the Mississippi Young Lawyers and the American College of Trial Lawyers.

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