Navigate Litigation 2.0

For the second time this year, the American Bar Association is offering guidance on how litigators can successfully, and ethically, minimize the occurrence of witness coaching during remote depositions. The ABA’s advice in a nutshell: Litigators should take time to understand the risks of witness coaching and then proactively address those risks through cross-examination, remote…

Significant revisions to the federal rule governing the admissibility of expert evidence will go into effect December 1. The evidence rule changes appear to raise the bar slightly for admission of expert evidence, requiring litigators to make a relatively stronger showing that their expert’s testimony will be reliable and helpful to the jury. Because the…

Depositions can be stressful affairs. For many witnesses, depositions are a once-in-a-lifetime plunge into the unknown with a lot riding on their testimony. Sitting in a room full of strangers, listening to lawyers argue over barely understood matters, with a court reporter taking down every word, it’s easy for even the most honest witness to…

People of a certain age remember when lawyers were almost always depicted in movies and television as competent, resourceful, honest, and zealous courtroom advocates for their clients. Long-running courtroom dramas such as Perry Mason, Matlock, and Law & Order demonstrated to viewers the vital role hard-working lawyers play in enforcing the rule of law for…

Summer is over and court administrators are back at work, churning out proposals for streamlining litigation and increasing the constructive use of remote technologies to handle judicial business. This blog post identifies four state courts that recently proposed new rules affecting, either directly or indirectly, the way depositions are conducted in their jurisdictions. No More…

Ever since the ABA advanced the principle that “competent representation” includes the duty of technology competence, lawyers have developed an understanding of the many ways in which technology affects law practice and the interests of clients. Certainly, vigilance on cybersecurity matters falls within a modern lawyer’s expected professional competence. As does taking care with the…