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Common Sense Rules of Advocacy for Lawyers
Table of Contents
| Summary Table of
Contents
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PDF
version of Table of Contents 
Foreword
The Author
Ch. 1 Introduction
Ch. 2 The Dimensions of Advocacy
Ch. 3 The Mandatory Rules of Advocacy
Ch. 4 Advocacy as Theater
Ch. 5 The Psychology of Advocacy
Ch. 6 The Examination of Witnesses
Ch. 7 Direct Examination
Ch. 8 Cross-Examination
Ch. 9 Re-Direct Examination
Ch. 10 The Final Argument
Ch. 11 Written Advocacy
Ch. 12 Advocacy in the Age of High Technology
Ch. 13 Conclusion
Appendices
Index
Foreword
The Author
Chapter 1 Introduction
Chapter 2 The Dimensions of Advocacy
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rule |
title |
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First Dimension: In the Common Law Countries a Trial is Not an Exercise Designed to Discover the Truth |
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Second Dimension:
Human Beings are Far More Video Than Audio |
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1 |
You Must Dress Appropriately |
|
2 |
Don't Be Seen to Be in To Friendly a Relationship With Your Opponent |
|
3 |
Don't Smile, Laugh or Joke Without Including the Jury In |
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4 |
Appear at All Times to Be Absolutely Sincere |
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5 |
Never Convey Any Visual Signal You Do Not Intend to Convey |
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6 |
Ensure That Your Factfinder Always Has Something to Look at |
|
7 |
Use All Kinds of Visual Aids |
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8 |
Maintain Eye Contact With the Factfinder |
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Third Dimension:
People Don't Like Lawyers! |
|
9 |
Stick Rigorously to the Truth |
|
10 |
Don't Appear to Be Manipulative |
|
11 |
Don't Sound Like a Lawyer |
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Fourth Dimension: Time is Valuable |
|
12 |
Don't Repeat Yourself |
Chapter 3 The Mandatory Rules of Advocacy
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rule |
title |
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13 |
Mandatory Rule Number One:
In Your Opening Statement Avoid All Argument and Stick Strictly to Facts |
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14 |
Mandatory Rule Number Two:
Be Sure, in Your Opening Statement, to State Enough Facts to Justify the Verdict You Are Asking for |
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15 |
Mandatory Rule Number Three:
The Advocate Must Not Express His or Her Opinion in Court |
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16 |
Mandatory Rule Number Four:
As an Advocate, Never Give or Appear to Give Evidence Yourself |
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17 |
Mandatory Rule Number Five:
Never refer to the Criminal Record of an Accused Person or to Any Offers of Settlement |
|
18 |
Mandatory
Rule Number Six: Never Put Words in the Mouths of Your Own Witness |
|
19 |
Mandatory Rule Number Seven:
In Your Closing Argument Speak Only of Things That Have Been Touched Upon in the Evidence |
Chapter 4 Advocacy as Theater
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rule |
title |
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20 |
Commit to Being an Excellent Trial Lawyer Don't Do Anything by Halves If You Can't Dedicate Yourself to This, Move Over and Do Something Else |
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21 |
Entertain Them |
|
22 |
Tell Them a Story |
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23 |
Think Beginning, Middle and End |
|
24 |
Always Aim to Maintain Your Continuity |
|
25 |
Keep It Simple |
|
26 |
Avoid Detail |
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27 |
Work at Eliminating Everything That Can Safely Be Eliminated |
|
28 |
Be Brief |
|
29 |
Prepare Them for the Boring Bits |
|
30 |
Know Your Audibility |
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31 |
Vary Your Pace and Vary Your Tone |
|
32 |
Be Aware of Timing and Use the Power of the Pause |
|
33 |
Be Vary Careful About Raising Your Voice |
|
34 |
Stay Out of the Well |
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35 |
Don't Get Too Close to the Jury Box |
|
36 |
Beware of Getting Too Close to the Witness |
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37 |
Plan Your Approach to the Witness Stand |
Chapter 5 The Psychology of Advocacy
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rule |
title |
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38 |
The Material of Advocacy Are Fragile |
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39 |
Be Likeable |
|
40 |
Aim to Create Sympathy Between You and Your Factfinder |
|
41 |
Newton's Rule |
|
42 |
Include the Factfinder in! or the Rule of the First Person Plural |
|
43 |
Prepare Them |
|
44 |
Always Aim to Be the Honest Guide |
|
45 |
Don't Ask the Factfinder to Believe the Unbelievable |
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46 |
When There Is a Weak Point in Your Case Don't Pretend That It Isn't a Weak Point |
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47 |
Don't Misquote the Evidence in any Way at All and Don't Put a Slick Interpretation on Any Part of It |
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48 |
Make Sure That You Always Come Across as Being Absolutely Fair |
|
49 |
Keep Your Objections to a Minimum |
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50 |
Take Great Care Getting Your Jury Out of Court for Bench Conferences |
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51 |
Demonstrate Your Competence to Your Judge as Early as Possible |
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52 |
Practice Listening Intently |
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53 |
Stop Dead in Your Tracks as Soon as You Realize Your Sentence Has Become Too Complicated |
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54 |
There Must Be an Overall Theme to Your Entire Case and You Should Be Able to Tell the Story in One Compact Sentence |
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55.1 |
First Part: As Soon as You Have an Approximate Idea of What a New Case is About Sit Down and Write Your Closing Argument |
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55.2 |
Second Part: Sit Down and Write Your Opponent's Closing Argument |
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55.3 |
Third Part: Sit Down and Perfect Your Closing Argument |
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56 |
Show Them the Way Home |
Chapter 6 The Examination of Witnesses
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rule |
title |
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57 |
Think Out in Advance the Answer You Want to Hear and Design Your Questions With a View to Getting That Answer |
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Think Control –Know What You Want the Witnesses to Say Then Make Them Say It |
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58 |
Every Examination Should Consist of a Series of Objectives |
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59 |
Never Forget That the Average Witness Speaks From Memory |
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60 |
Never Forget You Are Not Dealing With Facts but With What the Witness Believes to Be Facts |
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61 |
Go Gently When You Attack a Witness's Recollection |
|
62 |
Never Turn to a Witness for Help |
|
63 |
The One Line of Transcript Rule |
|
64 |
Don't Ask Compound Questions |
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65 |
Use Variety in the Format of Your Questions |
|
66 |
Beware of Demanding the Yes or No Answer |
Chapter 7 Direct Examination
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rule |
title |
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The Rule About Leading Questions |
|
67 |
The
Foundation Rule: Before You May Ask a Witness to Testify on any Topic, You Must Lay a Foundation Showing How the Witness Has Acquired Knowledge of That Topic |
|
68 |
In Direct Examination, Remember the Rule of Two and Couple Your Questions Wherever You Can |
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Getting
Documents into Evidence |
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Refreshing
Recollection |
Chapter 8 Cross-Examination
|
rule |
title |
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28 |
Be as Brief as You Can Be |
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69 |
Stop When You Get What You Want |
|
70 |
Use Leading Questions in Cross-Examination |
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71 |
Pin Down the Witness: Don't Spring the Trap Until the Witness is Inside |
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72 |
Keep the Record as Favorable to You as Possible by Moving to Strike Any Inadmissible Evidence |
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73 |
Ride the Bumps: Keep Your Dismay a Secret |
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74 |
The Minefield Rule: Never Jump Back in Alarm! |
|
75 |
Don't Cross-Examine at All Unless You Have to |
|
76 |
Don't Go Fishing |
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77 |
Don't Ask Questions to Which You Don't Know the Answer |
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78 |
Never Ask "Why?" and Never Ask "How?" |
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79 |
Don't Open the Door |
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80 |
Don't Let the Witness Repeat Her Direct Testimony |
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81 |
Don't Ever Get Into an Argument With a Witness |
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82 |
Don't Ask the Fatal Final Question |
Chapter 9 Re-Direct Examination
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rule |
title |
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Salvage, Clarification, and Massacre |
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83 |
If You Don't Do Re-Direct Well It's Better You Don't Do It at All |
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Re-Direct Must Be Done Confidently and Effortlessly |
Chapter 10 The Final Argument
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rule |
title |
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84 |
It's The Factfinder's Emotion, Not Yours, That Matters |
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85 |
Emotion Follows Facts and Not the Other Way Around |
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86 |
Too Little Emotion is Fatal: Too Much Emotion is Fatal |
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87 |
Acknowledge the Feelings That Have Understandably Been Stirred Up |
Chapter 11 Written Advocacy
|
rule |
title |
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Paper Is the Basic Material Used for Written Communication and the Dissemination of Information |
|
88 |
Lawyers Use Far Too Much Paper |
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Engineering Language |
|
89 |
Good Legal Writing is Easy to Read and Interesting, Accomplishing Its Goal in as Few Words as Possible |
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The "Body Language" of a Document |
|
90 |
The Appearance of Your Document is Vitally Important |
|
91 |
White Space is User Friendly |
|
92 |
Don't Produce a Paragraph Deeper
than Four Inches |
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93 |
Margins Have an Effect on the Reader |
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94 |
Lists of More Than Three Items Should Be Vertical Not Horizontal |
|
95 |
Use Headings |
|
96 |
Consider Incorporating Diagrams
into Your Writing |
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Pace and Movement |
|
97 |
Write at the Pace of a Brisk Walk |
|
98 |
Pay Great Respect to Chronology in Your Writing |
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Paper Is the Basic Material Used for Written Communication and the Dissemination of Information |
|
99 |
There's No Rule of Court Which Requires Your Document to Be a Minimum Length |
Chapter 12 Advocacy in the Age of High Technology
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rule |
title |
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Video |
|
100 |
Stay Abreast of Technological Advance |
Chapter 13 Conclusion
Appendices
-
Appendix 1: Why Color Is Critical
- Appendix
2: The Practical Rules at a Glance
- Appendix 3: "How to Succeed as
a Lawyer," by Roland Boyd
Index
Common Sense Rules of
Advocacy for Lawyers
By Keith Evans
Hardbound, $19.95
Hardbound: 264 pages
ISBN 10: 1587330059
ISBN 13: 978-1-58733-005-6
LCCN: 2003113147
OCLC: 56315474
Published 2004
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Softcover:
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ISBN 10:
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ISBN 13:
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URLs:
www.TheCapitol.Net/Publications/commonsenseTOC.html
www.RulesOfAdvocacy.com
Last updated:
September 02, 2010
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