The Illinois Trial Practice Weblog
"Tips and techniques for trial lawyers, appearing for the plaintiff or defense."
Author: Evan Schaeffer is a plaintiffs attorney practicing consumer law and personal injury law with his wife and law partner, Andrea Lamere, in downstate Madison County, Ill. He is admitted to practice in both Illinois and Missouri. He also writes Evan Schaeffer's Legal Underground.
Blawg Related Categories: Law Firms • Law Practice Management • Legal Marketing & Consulting • Tort Law • States • Illinois • Solo / Small Firm
Recent Posts from The Illinois Trial Practice Weblog
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Advice to Litigators: Don't Depose Every Witness
At Atkinson-Baker's Depo.com, lawyer Stewart Weltman has some good advice in his article, "Deciding Who To Depose (part one)"-- [D]eposing everyone connected with the facts is not the answer. Why? Because doing so results in…
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Trial-Planning Steps to Take After a Deposition Has Ended
While you'll often want to forget about a deposition as soon as it's concluded, the better practice is to use your recent gearing-up for the deposition as a springboard for some trial preparation. Consider taking…
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Production from Non-Parties and Records Depositions: Some Generalities
Here are some broad principles that will apply to many situations involving production from non-parties: A non-party person or entity will be compelled to produce documents and appear for a deposition with a subpoena, not…
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Lay Witnesses: Separating Fact from Opinion
Lay witnesses will often give you their opinions at depositions even when you didn't ask for them. Examples: "He wasn't driving safely.""The roof was in good repair.""I wasn't at fault.""I'm going to need more surgery.""Our…
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The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure: Online Resources
For future reference, here's a list of some online resources concerning the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure: The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, from Cornell University Law School, html and hyperlinked; The Federal Rules from…
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The Use of Round Numbers in Trial and Settlement
Which number seems higher: $325,425 or $325,000? There's an interesting analysis of this question from Ron Miller at The Maryland Injury Lawyer Blog: "Exact Numbers in Personal Injury Cases." Miller's post deals with trials but…
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Legal Writing in Crisis?
At Legal Blog Watch, Carolyn Elefant blames the deterioration in legal-writing abilities on the ubiquity of low-cost legal research tools-- While I believe that both factors --the informality of e-mail and lack of quality teaching…
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Video Depositions: the New Legal Art?
Are video depositions the new legal art? That's the view of Dick Dahl in his article "Video Depositions Offer Advantages at Trial"-- [T]the lawyers who practice this relatively new legal art say there's a lot…
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Navigating Illinois Trial Practice by Category: An Update
Since I started this weblog in January, 2004, I've written 751 posts, enough for a good-sized book. Most of these posts are assigned to one or more categories. You can get to these categories by…
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The New Rule 502 and Waiver of Privilege: A Podcast to Keep You Informed
The weekly law-related podcast Coast to Coast has done a podcast about new Federal Rule 502, which establishes a new rule of evidence and is expected to reduce litigation costs-- Every lawyer knows the costs…