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PURCHASE MATERIALS - DVD & Materials available for purchase $85.00 per session or $450.00 for the six-part set. For those who’ve registered and paid for the 6 sessions Mechanics of Trial series you can purchase the DVD set for $200.00.

Thank you to the Utah State Bar Litigation Section for the scholarships they provided.  Interested in a scholarship for one or more of the sessions contact: mpetrogeorge@pasonsbehle.com

Six sessions - one held every other month - on the basics of trial practice from the pre-trial conference through post-trial motions

The tools you didn't get in law school - but need for your first trial

• Entertaining host (if not grumpy)
• Engaging guests (judges and luminaries of our trial bar)
• Lively demonstrations (but no one gets embarrassed)
• Utah-focused, practical information (you'll not find this anywhere else)
• Detailed materials (with checklists for every step)
  
  

	Session Two - May 14, 2008 Salt Lake City Library Auditorium FULL AGENDA | PDF Agenda Focus Groups - Your Secret Weapon (.5 hour) The Simple Way to an Effective Opening Statement (1 hour) Exhibits Made Easy (1 hour) Keeping Organized (.25 hour)
	Session Three - July 10, 2008 Utah Law & Justice Center FULL AGENDA Objections (.5 hour) The Essential Skill of Making the Record (1.25 hours) Direct Examination Basics (1 hour)
	Session Four - September 11, 2008 Utah Law & Justice Center FULL AGENDA Computers in the Courtroom (1 hour) Demystifying Trial and Post-Trial Motions (1.5 hours) The Costs Bill (.25 hour)
	Session Five - November 13, 2008 Utah Law & Justice Center FULL AGENDA Cross Examination Basics (1.5 hours) Your Rebuttal Case (.25 hour) Wrapping it Up - Closing Argument (1 hour)
	Session Six - January 15, 2009 Utah Law & Justice Center FULL AGENDA The Critical Chore of Jury Instructions (1 hour) Special Verdict Forms (.5 hour) When the Jury Speaks (.5 hour) The Gotchas to Remember (.5 hour)

Session Two - May 14, 2008

Location: Salt Lake City Library Auditorium

• Focus Groups - Your Secret Weapon (.5 hour)
  • How to do your own focus groups quickly and cheaply
  • How they will give you your best ideas
• The Simple Way to an Effective Opening Statement (1 hour)
  • Why the opening statement matters
  • What you should say
  • What you may not say
  • The power of visualization
  • A template for any opening statement
  • You can do it without reading it
  • How to practice
  • Wasting or winning the opening?
  • Eye contact made easy
  • Dealing with the negatives
  • Further reading - useful books in my library on this topic
  • Do's and don'ts for openings - a checklist
  • Further reading
• Exhibits Made Easy (1 hour)
  • Understanding the power of Rule 26(d)
  • Are pleadings in evidence? Are they exhibits?
  • Are depositions in evidence? Are they exhibits?
  • Are expert reports exhibits?
  • What about diagrams and summaries by counsel or witnesses?
  • The simple steps for introducing an exhibit
  • Premarking
  • What about the jury and the judge?
  • The most common foundations in shorthand
    • Photographs
    • iBusiness records
    • Records summaries
    • Day-in-the-Life
    • Reconstructions
    • Models
  • What goes to the jury?
    • Pleadings
    • Depositions
    • Authoritative/Medical literature
    • Counsel's argument
    • Expert reports
    • C.V.s
    • Demonstrative evidence
  • Sources of useful demonstrative exhibits
  • Medical illustrations - on the web and bespoke
  • Court rules on exhibits
  • Use of pretrial stipulations
  • Further reading - useful books in my library on this topic
  • What you must always do re exhibits when closing arguments are completed
  • Checklist
• Keeping Organized (.25 hour)
  • Trial notebooks
  • The varying styles
  • Software alternatives

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Session Three - July 10, 2008

Location: Utah Law & Justice Center

• Objections (.5 hour)
  • Objection! How to do it right
  • Useful books that summarize the standard objections
  • Speaking vs correct objections
  • Deal with objections before the witness takes the stand
  • Give the judge a break
  • Mini-briefs for objections
  • Motions in limine
  • BUT: trial is not an evidence exam: losing by objecting
  • Why great trial lawyers rarely object: it's not like TV
  • The two-step quick think for objections
• The Essential Skill of Making the Record (1.25 hours)
  • Why not knowing how to properly make a record will kill your appeal
  • Ouch! - a quick summary of Utah cases
  • Make a noise like a lawyer - learning to speak for the record
  • What court reporters want to teach you about it
  • Why a video record can be treacherous
  • The right way to refer exhibits
  • The problem with bench and chambers conferences
  • Brining your own court reporter
  • Where do I get those videos?
  • What the heck is an offer of proof?
  • When must I do an offer of proof?
  • What if the judge says "no"?
  • Demonstrations of proffers
  • Watch out for motions in limine
  • Further reading - useful books on this topic
  • Why the new amendment to Evidence Rule 104 may save you
  • Avoid the continuing error made on the record for jury instructions
  • Further reading - useful books in my library on this topic
  • Checklist for making the record
• Direct Examination Basics (1 hour)
  • Leading or non-leading
  • Lead without leading
  • Put down that pen!
  • Get yer head out of those notes!
  • When you can and should lead
  • Change the assumptions, change the opinion
  • Using published authorities
  • And there are ethical limitations...
  • A checklist for direct examination
  • Using the expert's report
  • Bookmarks
  • Hooking but not cooking
  • Using photos for the difficult issues
  • Further reading - useful books on direct exam
  • End with a slam, not a fizzle

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Session Four - September 11, 2008

Location: Utah Law & Justice Center

• Computers in the Courtroom (1 hour)
  • PowerPoint XP, Corel Presentations, and Apple Keynote
  • Sanction, Summation, Visionary, and the rest
  • PowerPointless: How PowerPoint can ruin the speaker
  • The myth of the power of "showing them"
  • What judges (and arbitrators) think about it
  • The seductiveness of technology
  • Practical checklist if you must take your computer to court
  • Mix it up with old methods
  • Using PowerPoint with power
  • Document management options
  • Further reading - useful books in my library on this topic
• Demystifying Trial and Post-Trial Motions (1.5 hours)
  • The power of the motion in limine
  • Please, let's understand the differences of the motions
  • The motions you may make
  • The motions you must make
  • What to say, and how to say it
  • Winning with Rule 41(a) in the non-jury trial
  • The deadly Utah Rule 47(s)
  • Do I need to say anything at the end of the trial?
  • Timing "gotchas" on post-trial motions
  • Checklist
• The Costs Bill (.25 hour)
  • Deadlines
  • Procedures
  • These aren't taxable costs!

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Session Five - November 13, 2008

Location: Utah Law & Justice Center

• Cross Examination Basics (1.5 hours)
  • A checklist for cross examination
  • What about?
    • The blabber
    • The professional
    • The liar
    • The nice guy
    • The pro
    • The jerk
    • The sympathetic witness
  • Less is more: the power of limiting the scope of cross
  • Dogs chase their tails; lawyers chase the direct
  • Cross on lack of knowledge
  • Exploring bias
  • The art of using depositions
  • The rule of completeness: Rule 32(a)(4)
  • Establishing points of agreement
  • The silly "gospel" on witness control
  • Why overcontrol doesn't work
  • Persuasion, not coercion
  • The primary purpose of cross is not to destroy the witness
  • Let that horse run!
  • Cross should not be "cross"
• Your Rebuttal Case (.25 hour)
  • Recency - the power of the final word
  • Sandbagging or proper rebuttal?
  • The cases to use
• Wrapping it Up - Closing Argument (1 hour)
  • How much does it matter?
  • Template for closing argument
  • Don't chase that tail!
  • Guest speakers - examples that work
  • What you should say
  • What you may not say
  • Arming your supporters for deliberations
  • Using instructions
  • Using the special verdict
  • Further reading - useful books on closing
  • The limits on closing rebuttals
  • Save a nugget for closing rebuttal

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Session Six - January 15, 2009

Location: Utah Law & Justice Center

• The Critical Chore of Jury Instructions (1 hour)
  • The rules on jury instructions
  • How MUJI works
  • Other sources of jury instructions
  • What about the judge's stock instructions?
  • Do instructions really matter?
  • A secret - instructions aren't really for the jury
  • What to say, and how to say it
  • The instructions conference
  • Objections to instructions - a checklist that works
  • Preserving the record on instructions
  • Waiver of objections to theirs
  • Waiver of your own issues
  • End
• Special Verdict Forms (.5 hour)
  • General vs special verdict
  • Special verdict forms
  • Why special damages must be itemized
  • Writing them to make sense
  • The rules of procedure
  • The traps on stock verdict forms
  • Beware the "net verdict"!
  • Checklist for special verdicts
• When the Jury Speaks (.5 hour)
  • What the judge will do when the jury returns
  • What to do about questions from the jury room
  • What you will do when the jury returns
  • Why "polling" should always be requested
  • Talking to the jurors afterward
  • Do I make any motions then and there?
  • Rule 47 reminder: when you must speak up
• The Gotchas to Remember (.5 hour)
  • A review of the key points of the entire seminar
  • An extensive checklist, with citations, of the thirty or forty "gotchas" that lurk at trial
  • Broken down by each stage of the trial
  • A list of about 50 things you should review before every trial

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