Introduction to Trial Advocacy

How do law students - or junior lawyers, for that matter - learn how to get things done in a courtroom? Certainly not by listening to the war stories told by accomplished litigators. This handbook offers a practical solution, and an experiential one. Advocacy can be taught, and this handbook takes on that task.Readers are led through all the steps of the civil litigation process that require oral advocacy, starting with the initial client interview. Civil litigators must learn the facts - all the facts. Then they have to analyze them. This handbook takes case analysis very seriously. If the reader learns nothing else from these pages, the techniques of case analysis will stand out as a major value.Case analysis informs all of the advocacy decisions and tactics that guide the litigator to a successful outcome. Even if taking the last offer is that outcome. Without proper analysis, how can the litigator create and implement an examination strategy?Students who "learn" case analysis by reading court decisions fail to grasp what trial lawyers know. Before the witnesses testify and the judge decides, the lawyers do not know what the "facts" are. Or how the judge will spin them to the ultimate conclusion. This handbook is written to arm the reader to analyze and strategize from the known facts. And to recognize the risks and to mitigate them as best as possible.The handbook presents the techniques to outline examinations, whether for discovery/depositions, direct (chief) or cross. Often, success depends on preparation. Preparation in gathering the facts, marshalling them and ordering them into an outline. A litigator who wings it is rarely acting professionally.The handbook then presents the techniques to conduct those examinations. The formula for a successful examination is part of the holistic structure that marries case analysis and fact gathering to telling the story persuasively.A major plus in these pages is the use of the example. The chapters refer to a simple legal case study, and then demonstrates the techniques using the characters and facts of that case.The handbook was written for Canadian lawyers and law students, but the lessons are applicable in all common law jurisdictions. Witnesses and judges are similar everywhere.So, from initial interview to final argument, this handbook informs the reader about the art of civil advocacy.
About the Author: John Hollander is an experienced civil litigator, a trial lawyer in Ontario, Canada since 1978. He has successfully managed his practice in the trial and appellate courts throughout his long career. He has presented at legal conferences and has run his own series of seminars since 2009. Since 2007, John has shared his experience with junior lawyers through his innovative Advocacy Club (www.advocacyclub.ca). Training junior lawyers with hands-on experience through drills, exercises, and presentations that focus on how-to formulae and techniques. John's techniques are presented in the Young Advocates Series of eight published handbooks, published by Irwin Law and available at www.irwinlaw.com/titles. As well, John has self-published the Advocacy Club Series of (so far) three handbooks, available at the Advocacy Club website and on Amazon.com: -Introduction to Trial Advocacy - how lawyers prepare for and conduct civil cases -Outlining - how to structure examinations in civil litigation -Estate Litigation - trial advocacy in estate litigation The hallmark of John's training in the Advocacy Club and of all his handbooks is the presentation of practical techniques. He uses examples and exercises in place of the traditional war story that educates no one and aggrandizes the story teller.