Cameras in the Courtroom: An Ill-Advised Policy
There are simply better ways than cameras to enhance court-room openness, particularly in federal district courts and the U.S. Supreme Court.
Litigation Journal | Spring 2021: Show and Tell
Volume 47, Issue 3
Features
Cameras in Court Increase Transparency
A judge argues that by embracing innovation and reconfiguring processes that were once viewed as sacrosanct, we embrace the opportunity to create a system that is more accessible and transparent.
Cameras Might Alter Courtroom Behavior—Maybe That’s the Point
The federal judiciary’s resistance to photo and video coverage has deep roots. If the critique is that cameras change people’s behavior, the retort is that sometimes behavior needs changing.
The Art of Prepping a Witness
Thorough preparation is time-consuming, emotionally draining, and (sometimes) costly. But it is time well spent.
Trial Practice Is Better Than Trying to Practice
For years, a young lawyer feared that she'd chosen the wrong profession. Four experiences of unrelenting, strategic, competitive, and at times terrifying intellectual theater changed all that.
Recollections Refreshed and Recorded
Memories fade, but can be brought back by records and objects in ways that allow them into evidence.
Demonstrative Evidence: Tell and Show
The digital age has conditioned all of us to assimilate more information simultaneously through visual and auditory cues. The same is true for jurors.
Using Feedback to Improve Writing and Writers
We can’t avoid editing junior attorneys’ writing. It’s part of our profession. But we can make the process more effective.
Columns
Respect for One Another
It's possible to be a great trial lawyer and a decent human being as well. Be an example to younger lawyers.
Writing Effective Settlement Conference Letters
A federal magistrate judge, who reads hundreds of settlement letters every year, offers his suggestions on how to best craft them.
Gathering Personal Information in the Age of the GDPR
Many countries, have developed, and are developing, legal privacy protections for their citizens and residents that are significantly broader than those in the American legal system.
The Third Paragraph of Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address
Lincoln faced a stymying rhetorical and political problem in fashioning his Second Inaugural Address.
Facts, Memory, Testimony: Person, Woman, Man, Camera, TV
Giving judges broad discretion in every matter that requires some exercise of judgment risks transferring too much power to the person who happens to wear the robe and be assigned to that case.
Statute Without a Home
It is high time for the courts to point out to Congress that it has put in place something that just simply makes no sense.
Be Yourself, Sell Yourself
You are different, unique really. Some crazy combination of genetics, environment, and personality. And if you adopt the persona of another, you will fail.
Who Can Attend a Deposition?
Lawyers are often advised to tell the other parties in advance when they may be bringing a potentially controversial observer to a deposition.
Headnotes
Parental Alienation Is Real
Family court judges have held that "there is no doubt that parental alienation exists" but also that it is "not a new phenomenon."
The Treason Trial of Aaron Burr
Far and away the ablest lawyer involved in the prosecution effort was Thomas Jefferson, though he never set foot in the courtroom.