Can you learn pretrial advocacy online? The answer is “Yes, Oh, Yes—you can.” Before the pandemic, I began taking a course at Seattle University’s Center for Digital Learning and Innovation (CDLI). I decided to take the classes because Seattle University Law School, where I teach Pretrial and Trial Advocacy, Essential Lawyering Skills and Visual Litigation and Today’s Technology, decided that, due to declining enrollment in its part-time students’ night classes, it would drop those classes…

An analogy compares of two otherwise dissimilar things based on a similarity in some particular aspect. Because one aspect of the thing resembles that in the other thing,  there is an inference that other aspects are also similar. An analogy is useful in explaining  a concept or process that the audience may not be familiar. An analogy normally is more complex than a metaphor or simile. How do you craft an analogy? First, figure out what…

Simile: A simile, like a metaphor, makes comparisons by using the words “like” or “as” to introduce the thing the subject is compared to. Like metaphors, similes also are powerful because they connect your case theory with something with which the jurors are familiar. Here’s a collection of similes, some of them compiled by Paul Luvera, one of the nation’s leading trial lawyers: Anonymous: Someone said he is like the rooster who thinks the…

Metaphor: A metaphor makes comparisons by replacing one thing for another. Metaphors are powerful because they connect the information you want to impart to with something with which the jurors are familiar. Also, metaphors can be utilized to make a complex idea easier to understand. In trial advocacy, the metaphor can be a bridge between your case theory and something with which the jurors are familiar. Here’s a collection of metaphors, some of them compiled…