Donald Trump’s lawyer, Joseph Tacopino was tasked with the cross-examination of 79-year old Jean Carroll who claims that Donald Trump raped her in a Manhattan department store in 1996. Tacopino attacked her credibility contending that she came forward in…

Go Big: As we explain in Cross-Examination Handbook: Persuasion, Strategies, and Techniques, the primary purpose of cross-examination is to convince the jury to adopt your case theory and reject your opponents. This is the big picture. To do this,…

 At Seattle University Law School I teach an online course entitled “Visual Litigation and Today’s Technology”. Cross-examination visuals are featured because they can be extremely powerful weapons for cross-examination. They can be used to gain concessions supporting your case…

No matter what you might think of F. Lee Bailey, he was a renowned cross-examiner.  This F. Lee Bailey’s pointer on cross-examination to keep the cross-examination questions moving along at a quick clip so that the witness doesn’t have time…

 It is probably the most common error, a rookie mistake – the cross-examiner has the witness repeat their direct examination. Question: “On direct examination you told this jury that . . .” The error is grievous. It violates Irving Younger’s 7th…

 Even when you are equipped with the skills and strategies covered in Cross-Examination Handbook, they will not be enough to do damage to the credibility of a tough witness. A tough witness is one who is armed with the…

 Don’t shoot yourself in the foot. Use leading questions on cross. Open-ended cross-examination questions can have repercussions.The following is an actual courtroom cross-examination exchange between a defense attorney and a farmer with a bodily injury claim. It came from…