Introduction During tough times, or when we are under a lot of stress, we all lean on mantras or aphorisms to keep ourselves going. One of my favorites is “fake it till you make it.” Statements such as those are meant to remind us of our values and bring us a sense of...

Take Trial Advocacy This past summer, I took Trial Advocacy with Professor Hatcliffe. Unlike most of my other classes, there wasn’t a final. Instead, the class culminated in a mock trial. During the mock trial, Professor Hatcliffe presided as the judge, while the...

Introduction “Feel the rush, break the rules, the thrill kills.” The first line of my opening statement at my first mock trial competition. Well... I certainly felt the rush to say the least! As I stood up to deliver my opening statement, my legs were shaking and I...

As the great Evidence professor Jerome Prince once instructed: “truth, while never simple, is one of society's most essential virtues.” For a trial attorney, cross-examination is universally recognized as the preeminent truth-seeking device. During a...

Over the summer, I had the opportunity to travel to England and participate in the Study Abroad Program at the University of Oxford through Stetson Law. This program was a two-week intensive course focused specifically on trial advocacy. At the start of the course, we...

Situation. Numerous victims come forward with similar allegations. Your client committed criminal acts against them. Damage control time. You may be given a chance to make a public statement denying guilt, maybe not. Either way, advocacy starts when your client makes...

Every case has its pros, and unfortunately, its cons. But one idea the best trial lawyers understand, and share, is that almost any negative can be turned to a positive. Take alcohol for instance. Alcohol often plays a damaging role in the outcome of a trial....

Clarity for a trial lawyer can come, often, far from the courtroom or a law office.  For example, on a beach in Florida, just after sunrise, running with a colleague.  And it was in such a place, running along the Gulf of Mexico, that some clarity came to what I...

Today, the use of security cameras and “smart doorbells” is common by private homeowners. A smart doorbell is an internet connected doorbell that sends alerts to a homeowner’s cellphone via an app.[1] A smart doorbell is capable of video and audio recording. Some...

I am in my first week of Trial Advocacy, and this Professor keeps repeating that I should “look good.” The way to do that is to know the story inside out, and to present it in a convincing way. To practice, he gave us the infamous State v. Alexander case. The first...