Law Commons^™

Cross-Examination, David L. Lewis

Mercer Law Review

Cross-examination is a force of nature, an unswept intangible force of the universe harnessed in a small space for a very short time at best. It is akin to a newly created element seeking a place on the periodic table. Cross-examination is also the hunger of the wolf and the thirst for justice. It does not admit to being tied to a theory but only to being capable of absorbing life's breath. Good cross-examination begins with the very breath of life, complete with passion and righteousness. It is a terrible, swift sword.

The Art Of Impeachment, J. Vincent Aprile Ii

Mercer Law Review

Impeachment is more than a cross-examination technique; impeachment is often a criminal defense lawyer's only weapon against the prosecution's case-in-chief. Impeachment is not a trial tactic or strategy that often can be extemporaneously employed to undermine a prosecution witness's believability. When impeachment, regardless of the mode or technique, is a significant part of the defense strategy, defense counsel must begin to build the context of the impeachment, at the latest, during voir dire and, at the earliest, no later than pretrial motion practice.

Political Trials, Ephraim Margolin

Mercer Law Review

In Political Criminal Trials, John Sink distinguished between cases in which the defendant admits the deeds, but invokes political reasons as a justification, and cases in which the prosecution proceeds against suspects for political reasons of its own. Each category of case is tried differently. Each compels a different approach to the handling of the media.

And God Created Woman. . . . But To Be A Criminal Defense Attorney?, Ellen S. Podgor, Leonard D. Pertnoy

Mercer Law Review

The focus of this Article is to discuss how different stereotypes affect the court presentation by a male and female defense attorney. The authors believe actual differences predicated upon a feminist methodology or approach are gender neutral. An awareness by an individual of what has been termed "feminist" controls actual methodology. For a more comprehensive discussion of feminist legal method or methodology, see generally Bartlett, Feminist Legal Methods, 103 Harv. L. Rev. 829 (1990); C. MacKinnon, Feminism Unmodified: Discourses on Life and Law (1987).

Literature, History, And Quotations: A New Perspective On An Old Technique, Peter A. Chang Jr., Elton B. Richey Jr.

Mercer Law Review

It was getting late. Outside, the sounds of the five o'clock traffic died down, and the grey twilight of a cold winter's day descended across empty streets and sidewalks. Across the square, the clock on the old church rang out the half-hour. Darkness was taking over inside as well. The grey twilight slipped through the windows and rolled like fog down the stairs and hallways of the aged building on Liberty Street, making the orange glow spilling out of the office at the end of the hall seem warmer still. Exasperated, the apprentice turned to the advocate.

Defending The Death Penalty Case: What Makes Death Different?, Andrea D. Lyon

Mercer Law Review

The United States Supreme Court has said time and again that "death is different." Lately, reading the Court's decisions makes the death penalty defense attorney wonder why, in those cases in which the imposition of the death penalty is the greatest, it is seemingly all right to have the most conviction-prone jury, a racially biased history of the death penalty's imposition, and fewer procedural safeguards.

Every Mother's Son: Humanizing The Defendant, Lisbeth Potts

Mercer Law Review

When the jury panel walks into the courtroom, the first thing they do with "bull's eye" accuracy is zero in on your client. "He must be guilty. Why else would I have to be here? If he wasn't guilty, he wouldn't be here." Those are the thoughts flashing through most of their minds., This is typically the situation, whether the defendant has been charged with a minor offense or a heinous crime.

A Crisis Of Legality In The Criminal Law? Reflections On The Rule Of Law, Francis A. Allen

Mercer Law Review

The Carl Vinson Lecture

The notion of the Rule of Law dates from the beginnings of political thought in the western world. In many ways it has had a curious career, for the concept has inspired hyperbole and bombast while, at the same time, generating some of our most sensitive meditations on the nature of law and the relation of individual rights to the exercise of political power and authority.

Handling Client Perjury After Nix V. Whiteside: A Criminal Defense Lawyer's View, John Wesley Hall Jr.

Mercer Law Review

The law of client perjury remains a paradox,. notwithstanding the United States Supreme Court's vaunted, yet seemingly failed, effort to resolve some of the issues by dicta in Nix v. Whiteside. Where we have come from is still confusing, and even five years after Whiteside, where we are going remains a mystery.

Closing Argument: Tapping The Human Experience, Drew Findling

Mercer Law Review

To every criminal defense attorney there comes the inevitable daydream. That time when you imagine yourself in front of the jury passionately proclaiming your client's innocence. It is a fantasy dominated by your emotion and shared with an imaginary jury. You can sense the jury move with every word you utter. You expect the jury to applaud you at any moment. Finally, at the end of this reverie, you receive the ultimate ovation, a verdict of not guilty. It is your responsibility to convert that daydream into reality. Your closing argument should be that segment of the trial in which …

The Defendant As A Witness, Alex Zipperer

Mercer Law Review

Few tactical decisions facing the criminal defense lawyer are as problematic as the decision whether to present evidence on behalf of the defense, and particularly whether to have the defendant testify. Trial lawyering cannot be practiced effectively by simply "going by the book." There are no definitive studies, nor can there be, to tell us what the general rule should be in deciding whether the defendant should testify, or otherwise present evidence in any given case. The nature of the criminal trial does not lend itself to a neat set of rules one pulls out of the hip pocket and …

The Art Of War And The Art Of Trial Advocacy: Is There Common Ground?, Christopher D. Balch

Mercer Law Review

The most difficult task for me as a future litigator is to define a frame of reference within which to practice the art of advocacy. While law school offers many courses in trial practice, mock trial, and litigation drafting, there is little opportunity to coalesce these segments into a complete strategy for trial advocacy. In order to begin to make sense of the pieces, I needed to define a working model within which to place them. The most obvious place to start was with the oft quoted analogy that trial is civilized combat.

There Is No Such Thing As A Free Question: Examining The Hidden Costs Of Trial Advocacy, Michelle Schieber

Mercer Law Review

Readers of Robert H. Klonoff and Paul L. Colby's new book on trial tactics might well be surprised by the authors' frequent references to fictional works such as Presumed Innocent and Perry Mason. A reader might even go so far as to conclude that the text which he has undertaken to peruse is somewhat radical. But if the reader also assumes that the authors' quirky approach has resulted in a book without merit, then he would be very wrong indeed.

The Rehnquist Court, Statutory Interpretation, Inertial Burdens, And A Misleading Version Of Democracy, Jeffrey W. Stempel

Scholarly Works

No one theory or school of thought consistently dominates judicial application of statutes, but the basic methodology employed by courts seems well-established if not always well-defined. Most mainstream judges and lawyers faced with a statutory construction task will look at (although with varying emphasis) the text of the statute, the legislative history of the provision, the context of the enactment, evident congressional purpose, and applicable agency interpretations, often employing the canons of construction for assistance. Although orthodox judicial thought suggests that the judge's role is confined to discerning textual meaning or directives of the enacting legislature, courts also often examine …

Start Making Sense: An Analysis And Proposal For Insider Trading Regulation, Jill E. Fisch

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Preventive Law And The Legal Autopsy: For Legal Profession As A Whole, It's A Learning And Research Tool, Robert M. Hardaway

Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship

The legal autopsy can be a careful learning and research tool, not only for the individual practitioner, but for the legal profession as a whole. A complete (or "horizontal") autopsy which includes an investigation of both sides of a case can be expensive and time-consuming to prepare. In many cases, practical consideration may dictate a more limited (or "vertical")-but also useful-autopsy investigating only one side of the case.

The Relationship Between Plaintiff Sucess Rates Before Trial And At Trial, Theodore Eisenberg

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

Legal cases that reach trial are a biased subset of underlying disputes. This makes it difficult to study the legal system by observing tried cases. This paper examines the relationship between plaintiff success at pretrial motion and trial stages across many categories of cases. The large, significant positive relationship between plaintiff success rates at these two procedural stages suggests that characteristics of case categories influence outcomes at both stages. Observers of a category of tried cases or cases resolved by motion can make informed judgments about how that category of cases fares at the other procedural stage.

Citizen Comprehension Of Difficult Issues: Lessons From Civil Jury Trials, Joe S. Cecil, Valerie P. Hans, Elizabeth C. Wiggins

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

Lay participation in debates concerning public policies is a touchstone of a democracy. The Constitution enshrines this value not only by providing for a system of elected representatives, but also by recognizing the right to trial by jury. When a democratic society seeks to impose the rigors of the law on an individual, it must justify those standards to a panel of citizens and allow the austere expression of the law to become infused with the values of the community. Through this process, the vision of justice shared by members of the community informs the dialogue of adjudication.

The increasing …

The First Amendment In Litigation: The Law Of The First Amendment, Robert Allen Sedler

Law Faculty Research Publications

No abstract provided.

Der Sachverständige In Patentrechtsstreitigkeiten In Den Usa Und Deutschland (The Expert In U.S. And German Patent Litigation), James Maxeiner

All Faculty Scholarship

Ob in Deutschland oder in den Vereinigten Staaten, der Sachverstaendige spielt haeufig eine entscheidende Rolle in einem Patentrechtsstreit. Die Erforschung der Tatsachen wie auch die Anwendung des Rechts erfordern oft ein technisches Verstaendnis, das nur ein Experte liefern kann. Das Problem, wie diese Informationen demjenigen, der das Urteil faellen muss, nahegebracht werden koennen, stellt sich in beiden Systemen gleichermassen. Allerdings sind die Rolle des Sachverstaendigen und die Art, wie diese Informationen uebertragen werden, hier und dort so verschieden, dass deutsche Juristen schwere Enttaeuschungen, wenn nicht sogar empfindliche Niederlagen befuerchten muessen, wenn sie ihre Vorstellungen und Erfahrungen auf den amerikanischen Prozess …

Rule 11 Recalibrated In Civil Rights Cases, Carl W. Tobias

Law Faculty Publications

The United States Supreme Court promulgated the 1983 amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure out of growing concern about abuse of the civil litigation process. The most controversial aspect of the implementation of these revisions has been judicial enforcement of amended Rule 11 (the Rule) in ways that disadvantage or "chill" civil rights plaintiffs and attorneys. As the federal judiciary enters its eighth year of implementing the Rule, courts apparently have improved their application of it by becoming more solicitous of the needs of civil rights plaintiffs and their counsel, in recognition of the important social function that …

Special Problems In Civil Procedure - Complex Litigation, Francis H. Hare Jr., Judge Robert M. Parker, Gerald A. Connell, Mary Kay Kane

University of Richmond Law Review Symposium

"Organization and Presentation of a Complex Case" lecture given by Francis H. Hare Jr., a partner in the law firm of Hare, Wynn, Newell & Newton, in Birmingham, Alabama.

"Judicial Management of Complex Cases" lecture given by the Honorable Robert M. Parker, Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.

"Complex Litigation in the Public Sector" lecture given by Gerald A. Connell, a member of the firm of Baker & Hostetler, in Washington, D.C.

"The Future of Complex Litigation" lecture given by Mary Kay Kane, academic dean and Professor of Law at Hastings College …

New York Civil Practice, Jay C. Carlisle

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

During the Survey year, the New York Court of Appeals issued important opinions with respect to strict compliance for service of process, the foreign object exception under CPLR 214-a, and disclosure against corporate employees. The Court also imposed sanctions for the first time under Part 130 of the Uniform Rules, and ruled that issue preclusion could be given to a criminal conviction to preclude subsequent civil litigation. In addition the Court recognized that substituted service could be used against a criminal contemnor. New York appellate courts issued instructive decisions regarding long-arm jurisdiction, forum non conveniens, and discovery of surveillance videos. …

Trial By Jury

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Litigation, E. D'Angelo

California Regulatory Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

Damages For Loss Of The Enjoyment Of Life, 24 J. Marshall L. Rev. 423 (1991), John Dwight Ingram

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Edmonson V. Leesville Concrete Co.: Will The Peremptory Challenge Survive Its Battle With The Equal Protection Clause, 25 J. Marshall L. Rev. 37 (1991), Steven M. Puiszis

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Privity, Products Liability, And Ucc Warranties: A Retrospect Of And Prospects For Illinois Commercial Code 2-318, 25 J. Marshall L. Rev. 177 (1991), Steven Bonanno

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Section 1983, Honorable George C. Pratt, Martin A. Schwartz, Leon Friedman

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Community Institution Building: A Response To The Limits Of Litigation In Addressing The Problem Of Homelessness, Ronald Slye

Faculty Articles

This article draws upon the experiences of the Jerome N. Frank Legal Services Organization at Yale Law School to argue that, while litigation has a place in addressing both the problem of homelessness and the problems of the homeless, it must be placed within a broader context and supplemented by other, non-litigious, legal activity. Using as an example a lawsuit brought on behalf of homeless families in Connecticut, this article makes four observations which support the conclusion that litigation, used alone, is an ineffective means of addressing the problem of homelessness.