Law Commons^™

Two issues are likely to create problems for the attorney in organizing the internal structure of the direct examination. First, new attorneys often follow a script when conducting direct examination. A second issue arises from the attorney's familiarity with the witnesses' testimony. Both of these problems can be alleviated by a simple strategy: The attorney must listen to the witness and use the witness' answer in formulating the questions.

Many Iawsuits are characterized by either minor or non-existent disputes over relevant facts, and such cases may be appropriately resolved by a more summary process than a full-blovvn jury trial. In recognition of this phenomenon, courts and administrators have attempted, since at least the eighteenth century, to fashion procedures that expedite civil litigation. Default judgments, judgments on the pleadings, summary judgments and directed verdicts allow courts to enter judgments at various points during the course of the proceedings prior to submitting the case to the jury. The most recent of these procedural devices to achieve trans-substantive application is summary judgment.