Category Archives: Opening Statement

The Mini-Opening Before Oral Questioning: Upgrade Your Voir Dire

Many states permit the lawyers to make a brief opening statement before the oral questioning of prospective jurors (e.g., California Code of Civil Procedure, sec. 222.5). If your state permits this, you should absolutely do it.

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Francis Scott Key Was a Lawyer. Don’t Be Like Him.

Get a piece of paper and a pen, and try the following puzzle. Seriously, try it—it will make this much more fun and you might learn something kind of profound. Ready? Here is the challenge:

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More Lawyer Vocabulary Banishments, by the Torquemada of Text

(This continues the discussion from Wednesday, June 26th.)

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Lawyer Vocabulary Banishments, by the Torquemada of Text

Fish do not think they are wet. If they thought about it at all, they might think you are dry. But just going along their fishy paths, leading their fishy lives, they give no thought to their own wetness. They … Continue reading

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The Five Do’s and 12,000 Don’ts of Opening Statements

I sat through some opening statements the other day, and can only just now talk about it. Even now, at some points in the story, I feel like pointing to a doll to communicate exactly where and how the two … Continue reading

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