Filtered by Tag: direct examination

More Thoughts on Direct Examination

People often craft a direct examination as if it were just a script on a page. They forget that these questions and answers are a conversation in a courtroom. As a result, those direct examinations sound awkward, repetitive, dull. Better lawyers picture how the examination will play out in court.

Direct Examination at Trial

According to an old adage, in cross examination the lawyer is the star, but in direct examination, the witness is the star. And so lawyers often draft questions so that the questions are short but the answers are long. Not only does this allow the judge or jury to focus more on the witness with firsthand knowledge than on the lawyer, but it also complies with a rule against “leading questions.”

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Comments on Recent Cases: February 2026

When a court orders someone to appear for a deposition, the person must appear or get another court order to the contrary. The penalty for disobeying the order to appear, however, can vary. For witnesses who decline to appear, the penalty may be monetary. For parties to the lawsuit, the court may rule the person who failed to appear must lose, but that is not always the case.
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Comments on Recent Cases: January 2026

It is important for defendants in litigation to promptly respond to a complaint. If they do not, a plaintiff may obtain a default judgment against them. But courts still apply strict rules to plaintiffs seeking default judgments.
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Comments on Recent Cases: December 2025

To prevail in litigation, it is not enough that someone did something wrong. A plaintiff needs to sue the correct defendant, usually the one responsible for the wrongful action. Sometimes, however, plaintiffs sue someone who did not do the wrong thing, and claim this defendant “aided and abetted” the wrongful actor.
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Comments on Recent Cases: November 2025

When parties agree to arbitration instead of litigation, courts will defer to an arbitrator to make most of the rulings in a case. And while an arbitrator may decide whether the case before her is the kind of case the parties agreed to arbitrate, a court may still decide if any valid arbitration agreement exists.
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Comments on Recent Cases: October 2025

Courts may dismiss litigation on summary judgment when there is no evidence that supports one side. Sometimes a party’s own self-serving statement may not be enough evidence to preclude summary judgment and justify a trial, but often it is.
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More Thoughts on Direct Examination

People often craft a direct examination as if it were just a script on a page. They forget that these questions and answers are a conversation in a courtroom. As a result, those direct examinations sound awkward, repetitive, dull. Better lawyers picture how the examination will play out in court.
Read More
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Construction Litigation

Often, construction projects run over budget and there are shortfalls. At the scale of a large project, these shortfalls can be huge, leading a development company created for that project to declare bankruptcy. In those cases, litigation helps assign blame. The court can determine where the funds will come from to get people paid while attempting to put the property into the hands of someone who can afford to finish developing it.
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Mediation: Day Two

Although mediation is generally considered to be less expensive than a full trial, this assumes the mediation is successful. An unsuccessful mediation can be costly and still fail to save any litigation costs. In a mediation, the parties pay for the mediator’s time in reviewing statements, preparing for the mediation, and attending it. Parties also need to calculate their own lost time and pay for the costs of their attorneys to draft the mediation statements and attend the mediation. Accordingly, for litigants on a budget, mediation has definite costs but uncertain benefits.
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More Thoughts on Bench Trials and Jury Trials

Commercial dispute plaintiffs in the United States often get to decide whether to have their claims decided at trial by judge or by a jury. Plaintiffs usually choose juries because they may be more sympathetic to the plaintiff’s claims. But there are also compelling reasons for a plaintiff to have a “bench trial,” in which the judge decides the facts of a case.
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Real Estate Litigation

A landlord cannot simply kick out a tenant when she does not pay rent. Instead, there is a process to demand rent and, if need be, seek an eviction. But the tenant may be able to explain why she is not paying rent. Litigation may be how the parties ultimately resolve the dispute.
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Litigation in Lithuania

Lithuania’s private law has been a mixture of rules from Germany, France, and Netherlands. In 2004 when Lithuania joined the EU, they not only adopted the regulations that apply to all member states, but they amended other national laws to align with European principles. Today, Lithuanian commercial law is European and modern.
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Litigation in Lebanon

Lebanon has a first instance court, which is like a county court in the United States. After that, a party can appeal to an appeal court, an after that there is the Cassation court, which is derived from the French court system. That court only hears cases, though, when the appeals court judges disagree or when there was an error at the appeals court.
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Litigation in Liechtenstein

Liechtenstein has enforcement agreements only with Austria and Switzerland, except in arbitration matters where it has joined an international enforcement convention. In civil proceedings without arbitration, it may therefore be necessary to re-litigate the case entirely in Liechtenstein.
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International Arbitration

There are a few cases of procedures for the independent production of evidence to be used in a forthcoming arbitration, which are not usual in a civil law jurisdiction. Documentary evidence is filed in the case docket. In case the tribunal grants document production, depending on what's produced, it's for the tribunal's eyes only, it's blackmarked, or it’s filed for all access.
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Litigation in the Kyrgyz Republic

At present, paper filings are still required in Kyrgyzstan. Pleadings must be submitted in person or by courier. There is no nationwide electronic filing system for courts yet, although limited email communication is sometimes allowed.
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