A powerful cross-exam of your opposing party’s key expert can be pivotal in your case, especially when a trial comes down to the proverbial battle of the experts. In the latest episode of Trial Technique Spotlight, Shane Read, one of the nation’s foremost trial presentation experts, discusses a framework that can be used to structure a powerful cross-exam. And he highlights how Elizabeth O’Neill adeptly used an element in that framework when cross-examining an asbestos expert, en route to securing a defense verdict in a mesothelioma trial. 

Clearly empowering a jury and its work is a critical element of any closing argument. Empowering the jury simultaneously emphasizes the stakes at issue and emboldens jurors who believe in your case to stand firm and advocate for you during deliberations. And in the latest episode of Trial Technique Spotlight, Shane Read, one of the nation’s leading trial presentation experts, discusses how Brian Panish masterfully empowered jurors in closings of a hip implant trial, setting the stage for an $8.3 million verdict. 

Attorneys defending a personal injury case must strike a delicate balance between vigorously representing their client without coming across as cold and unsympathetic to a plaintiff’s condition. And in the latest episode of CVN’s Trial Technique Spotlight, Shane Read, one of the country’s preeminent trial presentation experts, analyzes how Allison Brown masterfully struck that balance in her opening statement at a talc trial against Johnson & Johnson, laying the groundwork for a defense verdict in the case.

Some studies show jurors often make up their minds about a case by the conclusion of opening statements. It’s one reason why distilling your case to a brief, powerful statement during openings is so crucial. And in a new CVN video series, renowned trial presentation expert Shane Read analyzes how Mark Lanier used such a statement to set the stage for a blockbuster talc trial verdict.