Summer 2011
Features
Representing Torture Victims and Other Asylum SeekersSeeking asylum is a high-stakes endeavor for many immigrants wanting to stay in the United States. Having a lawyer is important; having credibility is crucial.
Preparing a Grand Jury Witness: Sweaty Palms, Racing Heartbeat
Grand juries have different rules from trials, and therefore require a different strategy. To avoid potential traps, know how to prepare a client to testify.
Reimagining Arbitration
Critics feel that arbitration has become as expensive and time-consuming as a trial, but an advocate argues that with rules that hold down costs and time spent, arbitration has a bright future.
Advice to Young Associates Who Want to Be Trial Lawyers
A young lawyer shares her tips on how to escape the paper chase and get into the courtroom.
Balancing the Duty to Prosecute and the Obligation to Do Justice
Prosecutors have broad discretion in choosing whether to bring a case. A former prosecutor argues that this balance between evidence and community standards results in politics in the best sense.
False Confessions
Confessions are powerful in the courtroom, but not all confessions are genuine. Sometimes details that make a confession seem believable are unintentionally supplied by the police.
Columns
Opening Statement: Litigation Revisioned
Global Litigator: Successful Depositions in International Litigation
Navigating the complex, confusing rules applicable to foreign depositions and transborder discovery can be confusing, but litigators can minimize problems by following the steps described in this article.
From the Bench: Are Settlements Sacrosanct?
When should a judge turn down a settlement that is presented for the judge’s approval? Some would say never, but the answer is neither yes nor no, but rather, “it depends.”
iWitness: Reining in E-Discovery
Electronic discovery is more important than ever, but receiving a request for ESI does not necessarily condemn a client to an expensive hunt through long-abandoned formats.
On the Papers: A New Approach to Legal Writing
Much of what you have been taught about writing is wrong. A professor of rhetoric shares his insights.
Advance Sheet: Looking Through the Wrong End of the Telescope
The action in the discovery process has shifted even more fundamentally from the learning of facts to the retrieval of documents.
Sidebar: Lies We Tell Ourselves
Trial lawyers are entertainers of a kind, but must remember to separate reality from illusion--at least in their own minds.
Scruples: Handling Flat Fees
New rulings add details to the practice of charging fixed fees.
