Illustrative documents may face challenges based on the requirements of the rules with respect to authentication. The key to admissibility of representational or illustrative documents is the degree of fairness and accuracy with which they represent the "real" thing - that is, the place, organization, object, or other thing being illustrated. This book shows how to establish the needed foundation and to protect against objections.

Text document exhibits are subject to the largest number of specialized evidentiary rules. The easiest way to deal with these rules is to consider first the general category into which the exhibit falls: It is either: an original, an exact duplicate with no markings that are not on the original, a "nonconforming" copy that has some markings that are not on the original, a summary of voluminous documents, or an email or other digital file.

In evidentiary terms, the next best thing to seeing the object or the scene itself, or hearing a witness who was at the scene is a recording of some kind that accurately reproduces the "real thing". The authenticity or trustworthiness of many of these exhibits must be established under Federal Rule 901(b)(9) or the state equivalent that applies to processes or systems. The output from equipment can be qualified by testimony that the process or system produces an accurate result.

Physical objects and substances are the "real thing". They are the physical things that are at issue in the case, such as defective parts, pieces of fabric, preserved specimens, and contaminated substances. They can be highly effective exhibits, so the establishing the foundation and preparing to defend against objections needs to be done carefully. Avoid common mistakes in laying an adequate foundation and prepare to defend against objections.

This kind of exhibit can be qualified either as evidence or as a testimony aid. Generally, you will want to offer charts and graphs in evidence because that way of organizing the data can qualify as "substantive evidence", and it is valuable to have the organized data before the jury during its deliberations. The "numbers documents" may be qualified by either a lay witness or by an expert witness. This book gives you the methodologies for both.

Knowing the technical bases for objections is not so difficult. Law school covers that. What is much harder is recognizing a good objection very quickly when your opponent puts a question to a witness or starts using a document. Cues and Signals gives you details on every objection that has been recognized in federal courts and sorts out the high-payoff objections from those of lower priority for both oral testimony and exhibits. Everything you need on objections is in one audiobook.

What's true for training great trial lawyers is true for all winning presenters. According to renowned trial attorney and best-selling author Gerry Spence, presenting a case before decision makers is not simply a technique, but an occasion for summoning your deepest reserves to advocate on behalf of something crucial.

Topics include voir dire, opening statement, preparing witnesses, cross examination, using exhibits, closing argument, jury research, and more, with excellent examples and “do’s and don’ts” provided throughout. Think of this audiobook as the senior law partner’s memo to associates on how to really try a case.

There are two kinds of knowledge law school teaches: legal rules on the one hand, and tools for thinking about legal problems on the other. Although the tools are far more interesting and useful than the rules, they tend to be neglected in favor of other aspects of the curriculum. In The Legal Analyst, Ward Farnsworth brings together in one place all of the most powerful of those tools for thinking about law.

Using Sun Tzu's revered The Art of War as a point of inspiration and reference, Michael Waddington offers up bite-size pieces of advice, snippets of strategy, and countless nuggets of wisdom he's accumulated over hundreds of trials. Instead of dwelling on the logistics and technicalities of trial practice, The Art of Trial Warfare illustrates the habits of a successful trial attorney. It speaks eloquently to the art of attack, of exploiting weaknesses, and of leveraging each success.