Law Commons^™

Witness To History: The Role Of Legal Commentators In High Profile Trials - Opening Remarks, Laurie L. Levenson

Cleveland State Law Review

As legal commentators, our role is, first and foremost, to educate the public and the media. The next thing that a commentator can do is, of course, provide some type of expertise. An experienced lawyer or legal commentator should know enough to say, if given the opportunity, that a certain fact will not necessarily make a difference in the case because the jurors will not hear it or because it is unrelated to the legal issues in the case. Another thing legal commentators can do is address problems in the presentation of what the law and the legal process is. …