Every trial tells a story — and the attorney who tells it best usually wins. In this lecture, we will walk through the critical stages of a California civil trial, offering practical strategies and hard-won insights to help you command the courtroom from voir dire to closing argument.
- Jury Selection: How to identify favorable jurors, expose hidden biases, and use voir dire to begin telling your client's story before the evidence begins
- Opening Statements: How to frame your case theme, preview the evidence compellingly, and set jury expectations that your proof will meet
- Cross-Examination of Defense Experts: How to expose bias, undermine methodology, and turn the defense's own expert into a witness for your case
- Closing Argument: How to weave the evidence into a coherent narrative, confront weaknesses head-on, and deliver a call to action the jury will answer
- Rebuttal: How to use your final minutes to neutralize the defense's closing and leave the jury with one clear, memorable reason to rule in your client's favor