The answer is invaluable experience, which is evident as two Burr Forman associates, James Haltom and Taylor Barr, describe their first federal jury trial below. In response to questions posed to them by Betsy Collins, cochair of the Pretrial Practice & Discovery Committee and the Burr Forman partner who tapped them for her trial team, James and Taylor provide helpful insight on everything from pretrial preparation to cross-examining a witness live at trial.
The trial spanned six days in a Tennessee federal court and involved a dispute over life-insurance proceeds and an accidental-death-benefit claim in connection with a denial of benefits under a suicide exclusion.