Courtroom Psychology and Trial Advocacy

Rating:
Summary: Powerful. Thought-provoking. Masterful.
Review: I had heard a lot about this book before reading it. Now, after reading it, I see that this is not just another trial advocacy book. It will challenge you to think about courtroom persuasion in new ways.

You can tell that the author is an expert in traditional trial advocacy technique. However, he focuses on the psychology of decision makers in a way that will make you think more carefully about how to persuade them. If you are expecting this book to read like any other trial advocacy text, you will be surprised. If you want new information that can make you more successful in the courtroom, you will be pleased. If you want just another book that restates outdated ideas about trial advocacy, you won't find it here.

The book contains 600 pages and 18 chapters. It is well organized so that you can read the parts that you need and then keep it nearby for reference as new problems come up in different court cases. About half the chapters are focused on applying psychological information to traditional trial advocacy topics, such as opening statement, fact and expert witness testimony, demonstrative aids, closing argument, bench trials, arbitration advocacy, and even mediation advocacy.

However, the rest of the chapters provide information on the psychology of communication, scientific studies of juror perceptions, as well as designing and analyzing scientific research studies of judges, juries, and arbitrators in your own cases. For example, in the chapter on juror perceptions, there are separate discussions of juror perceptions of liability and damages issues in personal injury, products liability, medical malpractice, employment, patent, copyright, trademark, and many other types of cases.

Throughout the book, the author discusses his personal insights from 20 years of practicing law and psychology in the courtroom. He obviously knows what he is talking about. He uses case analogies throughout the book to illustrate his points. However, having become jaded over the years, I took some comfort in seeing that his ideas are supported throughout the book. In addition, the book contains commentary from a number of trial judges and trial attorneys at major firms that provide additional ideas and support to the author's work.

The greatest strength of this book is the blending of well accepted trial advocacy principles to scientific information used in the field of psychology. From the outset, the author makes his premise clear: trial attorneys, corporate counsel, and their clients will be more successful in the courtroom when they orient their case presentations to the actual perceptions of the judges, jurors, and arbitrators they are trying to persuade. The rest of the book is dedicated to showing you how to do just that.

Rating:
Summary: Powerful. Thought-provoking. Masterful.
Review: I had heard a lot about this book before reading it. Now, after reading it, I see that this is not just another trial advocacy book. It will challenge you to think about courtroom persuasion in new ways.

You can tell that the author is an expert in traditional trial advocacy technique. However, he focuses on the psychology of decision makers in a way that will make you think more carefully about how to persuade them. If you are expecting this book to read like any other trial advocacy text, you will be surprised. If you want new information that can make you more successful in the courtroom, you will be pleased. If you want just another book that restates outdated ideas about trial advocacy, you won't find it here.

The book contains 600 pages and 18 chapters. It is well organized so that you can read the parts that you need and then keep it nearby for reference as new problems come up in different court cases. About half the chapters are focused on applying psychological information to traditional trial advocacy topics, such as opening statement, fact and expert witness testimony, demonstrative aids, closing argument, bench trials, arbitration advocacy, and even mediation advocacy.

However, the rest of the chapters provide information on the psychology of communication, scientific studies of juror perceptions, as well as designing and analyzing scientific research studies of judges, juries, and arbitrators in your own cases. For example, in the chapter on juror perceptions, there are separate discussions of juror perceptions of liability and damages issues in personal injury, products liability, medical malpractice, employment, patent, copyright, trademark, and many other types of cases.

Throughout the book, the author discusses his personal insights from 20 years of practicing law and psychology in the courtroom. He obviously knows what he is talking about. He uses case analogies throughout the book to illustrate his points. However, having become jaded over the years, I took some comfort in seeing that his ideas are supported throughout the book. In addition, the book contains commentary from a number of trial judges and trial attorneys at major firms that provide additional ideas and support to the author's work.

The greatest strength of this book is the blending of well accepted trial advocacy principles to scientific information used in the field of psychology. From the outset, the author makes his premise clear: trial attorneys, corporate counsel, and their clients will be more successful in the courtroom when they orient their case presentations to the actual perceptions of the judges, jurors, and arbitrators they are trying to persuade. The rest of the book is dedicated to showing you how to do just that.

Rating:
Summary: A Sophisticated Trial Lawyer's Book
Review: I have been trying complex business cases for almost 20 years. I suspect I know as much about judges, jurors and arbitrators as most trial lawyers. After seeing this book online and reviewing the table of contents, I picked up a copy as I was getting ready for trial thinking it may give me a couple of new ideas. Once I received the book, I was amazed at the amount of powerful information it contains about how judges, jurors and arbitrators think about specific issues in all kinds of civil cases. The author is a board certified trial lawyer and psychologist and does a good job in using scientific research to support 600 pages of recommendations about how to do a better job inspiring and motivating fact finders throughout trial. I have never seen a trial advocacy book with this much sophisticated information about persuading people in the courtroom. It has made a huge difference in how I prepare a case for trial and how I present a case in the courtroom. I recommend that you get a copy and see what I mean.

Rating:
Summary: A Sophisticated Trial Lawyer's Book
Review: I have been trying complex business cases for almost 20 years. I suspect I know as much about judges, jurors and arbitrators as most trial lawyers. After seeing this book online and reviewing the table of contents, I picked up a copy as I was getting ready for trial thinking it may give me a couple of new ideas. Once I received the book, I was amazed at the amount of powerful information it contains about how judges, jurors and arbitrators think about specific issues in all kinds of civil cases. The author is a board certified trial lawyer and psychologist and does a good job in using scientific research to support 600 pages of recommendations about how to do a better job inspiring and motivating fact finders throughout trial. I have never seen a trial advocacy book with this much sophisticated information about persuading people in the courtroom. It has made a huge difference in how I prepare a case for trial and how I present a case in the courtroom. I recommend that you get a copy and see what I mean.

Rating:
Summary: Survey book with plenty of personal insights
Review: I was excited to get a copy of this book and was surprised to see the breadth of the material. The effort to cover such a wide variety of important topics must have been extraordinary. The style is crisp and the outline flows well as the reader moves along. This is a good source book for those in the legal industry but not a scholarly work for the more initiated. Many good ideas of a practical nature can be gleaned from these pages. This is neither a review of the psychology of persuasion nor a consolidation of the ideas of psychologists and trial consultants who have works of their own. It appears to be the best thinking of Dr. Waites plus some general research materials which support his points of view. I congratulate the author and look forward to his other works.

Rating:
Summary: Survey book with plenty of personal insights
Review: This book is pretty amazing. It is actually a courtroom psychology book that should be on the desk of every trial lawyer or litigation manager. The author does a masterful job of explaining important psychological techniques that have been proven to be very useful in delivering more powerful and persuasive substance in persuading judges, jurors and arbitrators. He has developed a new concept called "decision maker oriented" trial advocacy. Essentially he believes that advocacy skills training (e.g. NITA training) is important for making us better messengers in the courtroom and that it is now time for us to concentrate on developing more compelling and persuasive content or messages in our trial presentations that really inspire judges, jurors and arbitrators. He takes you through every stage of a case from pretrial development of a case through closing argument. There is an interesting chapter on handling pretrial publicity. Instead of shying away from talking about pretrial jury research and trial consultants, he advocates using every legitimate source of information possible to develop the most persuasive case on behalf of a client. His premise is that the more persuasive we are in the courtroom, the more effective and more respected our jury system and court system will be. He discusses how to use scientific mock jury and arbitrator research to get a look at your case from a jury or arbitration panel perspective and then develop the case from their standpoint. The book incorporates references to scientific jury research throughout and has one long chapter devoted to explaining all the different types of focus groups and mock trial research studies that can be created to help a trial lawyer or litigation manager. I have always been a little suspicious of people who conduct private jury research before trial. Now I understand. Good book.

Rating:
Summary: A Masterpiece About Persuading Judges, Juries & Arbitrators
Review: This book is pretty amazing. It is actually a courtroom psychology book that should be on the desk of every trial lawyer or litigation manager. The author does a masterful job of explaining important psychological techniques that have been proven to be very useful in delivering more powerful and persuasive substance in persuading judges, jurors and arbitrators. He has developed a new concept called "decision maker oriented" trial advocacy. Essentially he believes that advocacy skills training (e.g. NITA training) is important for making us better messengers in the courtroom and that it is now time for us to concentrate on developing more compelling and persuasive content or messages in our trial presentations that really inspire judges, jurors and arbitrators. He takes you through every stage of a case from pretrial development of a case through closing argument. There is an interesting chapter on handling pretrial publicity. Instead of shying away from talking about pretrial jury research and trial consultants, he advocates using every legitimate source of information possible to develop the most persuasive case on behalf of a client. His premise is that the more persuasive we are in the courtroom, the more effective and more respected our jury system and court system will be. He discusses how to use scientific mock jury and arbitrator research to get a look at your case from a jury or arbitration panel perspective and then develop the case from their standpoint. The book incorporates references to scientific jury research throughout and has one long chapter devoted to explaining all the different types of focus groups and mock trial research studies that can be created to help a trial lawyer or litigation manager. I have always been a little suspicious of people who conduct private jury research before trial. Now I understand. Good book.