Being Heard by
Public speaking is a skill that can be learned, just like any other skill such as writing, playing an instrument, a sport or being a chef. A quick and easy read, this book provides you with the basic and advance techniques, and insider knowledge, you need to improve your presentations, whether in or out of court. Attorneys and non-attorneys alike will find a multitude of techniques that can be used immediately to improve their presentation skills.Being Heard: Presentation Skills for Attorneys consolidates the most helpful and effective tips of the trade in order for you and your staff to become better public speakers. These tools have been time-tested and will help to ensure that both in and out of the courtroom, the reader projects the image and message that you want.
The persuasive edge by
Developing a practical approach to persuasion -- Building an honest relationship with the jury -- Simple tools for getting jurors' attention -- Persuasion in voir dire -- Developing a strike strategy -- What to do when attorney-conducted voir dire is strictly limited or not allowed -- Securing juror commitment during opening statement -- Advancing your case while witnesses are on the stand -- Maximizing persuasion potential during closing argument -- The power of visual persuasion -- Expanding your trial strategy and staging techniques -- Communicating more effectively with the judge -- Using trial consultants.
Storytelling for Lawyers by
Good lawyers have an ability to tell stories. Whether they are arguing a murder case or a complex financial securities case, they can capably explain a chain of events to judges and juries so that they understand them. The best lawyers are also able to construct narratives that have an emotional impact on their intended audiences. But what is a narrative, and how can lawyers go about constructing one? How does one transform a cold presentation of facts into a seamless story that clearly and compellingly takes readers not only from point A to point B, but to points C, D, E, F, and G as well? In Storytelling for Lawyers, Phil Meyer explains how. He begins with a pragmatic theory of the narrative foundations of litigation practice and then applies it to a range of practical illustrative examples: briefs, judicial opinions and oral arguments. Intended for legal practitioners, teachers, law students, and even interdisciplinary academics, the book offers a basic yet comprehensive explanation of the central role of narrative in litigation. The book also offers a narrative tool kit that supplements the analytical skills traditionally emphasized in law school as well as practical tips for practicing attorneys that will help them craft their own legal stories.
Jury Selection by
Forensic mental health assessment (FMHA) has grown into a specialization informed by research and professional guidelines. This series presents up-to-date information on the most important and frequently conducted forms of FMHA. The 19 topical volumes address best approaches to practice forparticular types of evaluation in the criminal, civil and juvenile/family areas. Each volume contains a thorough discussion of the relevant legal and psychological concepts, followed by a step-by-step description of the assessment process from preparing for the evaluation to writing the report andtestifying in court.Volumes include the following helpful features:* Boxes that zero in on important information for use in evaluations* Tips for best practice and cautions against common pitfalls* Highlighting of relevant case law and statutes* Separate list of assessment tools for easy reference* Helpful glossary of key terms for the particular topicIn making recommendations for best practice, authors consider empirical support, legal relevance, and consistency with ethical and professional standards. These volumes offer invaluable guidance for anyone involved in conducting or using forensic evaluations.Jury selection is the process by which attorneys remove people from the jury pool whom they judge to be undesirable, presumably because they fear that the potential juror would be biased against their side. In Jury Selection, Kovera and Cutler review the law governing attorneys' decisions to removepotential jurors from jury service, including laws prohibiting the systematic removal of particular categories of people from the jury. The book provides an overview of standardized tools for assessing personality traits and attitudes that may be related to jurors' verdicts as well as the researchestablishing the validity of these measures. The authors review the studies that evaluate the effectiveness of both traditional and scientific methods of jury selection, including the methods used to conduct a community survey to guide a change of venue motion and the selection of potential jurorsto excuse. Kovera and Cutler also discuss the ethical principles to be followed when assisting attorneys with jury selection issues.
Mastering Voir Dire: Supplemental Juror Questionnaires by
This companion book to Mastering Voir Dire: Gain An Edge in Questioning and Selecting Your Jury, 4th Edition (2018) educates the reader on how to create and use supplemental juror questionnaires. As one of the nation's most experienced trial consultants, Dr. Frederick provides a valuable guide to understanding, creating, and more effectively utilizing supplemental juror questionnaires. Topics covered include: - Basic components of supplemental questionnaires - Methods for using these questionnaires - Benefits in using supplemental questionnaires - Designing questionnaires, including the benefits of different question formats - Tips for phrasing questions - Tips for designing the overall questionnaire - Maximizing the utility of restricted-length questionnaires
Mastering Voir Dire and Jury Selection by
The voir dire and jury selection process is one of the most challenging aspects of a jury trial. It is at this time that lawyers must identify and remove potential jurors who harbor some bias or hold beliefs that would make them less beneficial than others. Success in jury selection requires lawyers to draw upon a number of basic skills. This book promotes the skills needed to be successful in the area of voir dire and jury selection. It is through the sharpening of these skills that lawyers take a major step in improving the chances of a favorable verdict at trial.
God-Thinking: every juror's moral brain, religious beliefs, and their effects on a trial verdict by
The social psychology of good and evil -- Brain science : the biology of right and wrong thinking -- Neurotheology and the ethical brain -- Religion in our jury pools -- Trial events that intersect with religion -- Jury selection : discovering the moral minds in a jury pool -- Motions : requests that make a difference -- Appellate courts : God and religion on appeal -- Pre-trial investigations that reveal religious landscapes.
Inside Jurors' Minds by
This book discusses the conscious and unconscious psychological factors that influence juror decision-making. Jurors inevitably rely on the same "thinking tools" at trial that they use to solve problems and make decisions in their everyday lives, which makes it almost impossible for them to divorce instinct and emotion from decision-making. Their fight-or-flight reflexes are stimulated not only by predators but by information that makes them fear for their personal safety--even if the threatening information is something they merely imagine. Because self-preservation is a primal instinct, jurors tend to unconsciously respond by disregarding or altering the "threatening" evidence. Information that conflicts with their personal beliefs and biases often elicits a similar response. Therefore, what jurors hear and remember about a case will inevitably be a reflection of who they are, what they value, and what their life experiences have been. Because jurors unconsciously weigh information in a hierarchical fashion, the "hierarchy of juror decision-making" can serve as a blueprint for creating strategies to counteract the most common thinking errors that can skew jurors' perceptions of the case. This is a valuable weapon that should be in every trial lawyer's arsenal.
The Psychology of Juries by
Juries have a tremendous amount of power and responsibility. They determine the outcomes of trials, including whether a defendant is found guilty or not guilty and, in many cases, what the penalty will be. With the authority to deprive citizens of their freedom and potentially their lives, a fair trial requires that juries function as they should -- without bias. But do they function this way? Are juries capable of disregarding inadmissible evidence? Can they understand the instructions that they are given by the judge? And if not, what safeguards or changes would help? Research on juries once served as a pillar of psychological scholarship, but publication of such research has slowed considerably in recent years. In an attempt to reinvigorate scholarship on this important topic, this volume summarizes what is known about the psychology of juries and makes a strong call to arms for more research. Esteemed jury scholars identify important, yet understudied, topics at the intersection of psychology and law, review what research is currently available on the topics, and then suggest new research questions that would advance the field. Furthermore, the authors evaluate the relative importance of research methods that emphasize generalizability versus tight experimental control. Collectively, the chapters present a comprehensive survey of the literature on jury behavior and decision making and offer a robust agenda to keep researchers busy in years to come.
The Science of Persuasion by
The ability to persuade comes naturally to some people and is completely foreign to others. This new second edition, is your thorough guide to the way jurors make decisions, and how you can use that knowledge to convince them that your story of a case is the correct version. This book was written for law students, experienced litigators, and everyone in between who needs to understand the most effective ways to convince a jury.