WLJ Anne Reed News

What Can A Mock Trial Tell You?

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 13:50:46 CDT

That's the title TRIAL Magazine gave to my article in their July 2008 issue. That link is to a .pdf copy uploaded here, so you don't need to be an AAJ member to read it. (In fact that's the only way I can read it myself; I do too much defense work to be allowed in AAJ. TRIAL's generosity in letting me post it is just one reason why it's a terrific magazine to write for, and to read if you can get a copy.)

What Is The Sound Of One Juror Clapping?

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 08:59:40 CDT

How do you know the trial isn't going well? When a juror applauds your opponent's closing rebuttal, that's a pretty good clue.

Your Client, The Jury, And You

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 11:40:33 CDT

One of my law partners was called for jury duty awhile back. He returned with a striking story, a sort of Tale Of Two Lawyers. Defense counsel, he reported, sat with his client at counsel table during voir dire. But plaintiff's counsel sat alone; his clients had to watch from the gallery. Even my experienced friend, who could list twenty reasons why a lawyer might or might not want to have the client at his elbow during voir dire, couldn't miss the message: defense counsel liked his client, and plaintiff's counsel didn't.

Respect

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 10:17:09 CDT

There are two juror stories in the legal blogs today, each illuminating in a different way the level of respect we give to jurors.

It's About Race. It's Not About Race.

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 10:09:07 CDT

It's a familiar moment in many mock trials or focus groups where the key players on each side are of different races, but race wasn't explicit in whatever interaction led them to be opposing each other in court. (Many trials -- employment disputes and criminal prosecutions are two common categories -- answer this description.) After the jurors have talked through some of the other issues, we ask them: "What does race have to do with this, if anything?"

Jury Notes From Elsewhere, June 14

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 13:06:20 CDT

What a week. We'll remember it more for its non-jury news -- the ringing, historic Boumediene opinion (Gideon here on why it's a great moment, Scott Greenfield here on why it doesn't help actual Guantanemo prisoners that much), the odd, jarring Judge Kozinski news (Volokh here seems to speak for most legal bloggers, but likely not for the general public), Tim Russert's way-too-soon passing today, and here in the Midwest, enough rain to float away an entire lake in central Wisconsin.

The Long Way To Unanimity

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 09:39:46 CDT

The California Court of Appeals opinion in People v. Carrasco on Friday didn't quote this part, but it's easy to imagine.

When They Look Away

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 09:15:47 CDT

Your expert is on the stand presenting her analysis of lost profits damages, or whether an unintelligible patent claim was infringed. As she’s explaining the most difficult part, you look at the jury, and your heart sinks; no one is looking at her. They’re contemplating the ceiling, studying the floor, looking away.

On the radio

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 09:09:23 CDT

I was on the Lake Effect program on Milwaukee Public Radio again yesterday, and honored to be there.

Announcing The Jury Expert

Mon, 26 May 2008 11:41:31 CDT

If you try cases to juries, ideas like these are likely to catch your attention

Twittering Voir Dire

Mon, 19 May 2008 08:41:48 CDT

There’s a new kind of journalism coming from a Kansas courtroom this week.

Commitment Issues

Mon, 12 May 2008 11:59:42 CDT

Is the Fifth Circuit trying to change the way prosecutors talk to jurors?

Jury Notes From Elsewhere

Mon, 05 May 2008 11:11:04 CDT

Good things for jury watchers at other sites lately:

Eggs, Milk, Butter, And . . . Darn It.

Mon, 05 May 2008 07:18:47 CDT

New research confirms two things. First, I’m not the only one who keeps forgetting that fourth thing I need at the grocery store. And second, I probably won’t get better at remembering it. Translation for lawyers: if you need jurors to keep more than a handful of facts in working memory, you have to give them special tools.

Ready For Anything

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 12:19:00 CDT

In voir dire you need to be ready for anything, and anybody.

Find Jurors' Experiences At Jury Experiences

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 07:43:14 CDT

I wasn't sure about the Jury Experiences web site early on, but I've become a fan.

The Edges Of Vouching

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 08:55:36 CDT

One of the more enjoyable prerogatives of a blogger is to give quizzes. Today's quiz is on the improper practice of "vouching" for a witness's credibility. Here's the line you're trying to draw: it's okay in closing argument to suggest what inferences jurors should make from the evidence, but it's not okay to insert your own credibility by vouching for the credibility of a witness. The classic example of vouching is when the prosecutor says, "I've known this FBI agent for years, and I can tell you he wouldn't lie."

The $1.99 Effect

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 11:39:09 CDT

In civil trials, damages evidence is almost never clear to the penny. Instead, lawyers make judgment calls about the exact amount of damages to ask for. A new study suggests the decision may make more difference than you thought.

When Voir Dire Is About Politics

Mon, 24 Mar 2008 08:13:36 CDT

Federal judge Amy St. Eve of the Northern District of Illinois may be setting a record for total pages of jury questionnaires used by a single judge. She presided over Conrad Black's trial that began a year ago this week, and approved the 45-page questionnaire used there. Now she is hearing the trial of Tony Rezko, best known as a Barack Obama fundraiser but on trial for political corruption unrelated to Obama.

A Narrow, Broad Opinion In Snyder

Mon, 24 Mar 2008 07:16:35 CDT

Back when Snyder v. Lousiana was argued, I wondered whether the opinion might be Justice Breyer's chance "to reconsider Batson's test and the peremptory challenge system as a whole," as he has put it. The Court decided Snyder today (the opinion is here, thanks to ScotusBlog), and far from reconsidering tests and systems, Snyder is one of the most conscientiously narrow decisions you'll ever read.

What I Learned About American Juries In Japan

Mon, 17 Mar 2008 09:12:32 CDT

I learned a lot about Japan on my trip there -- the legal system, the Tokyo subway, the easiest way to apologize. But as I gather my thoughts about it, the first things I want to say are what I learned about my own country -- and more specifically, about American jurors -- by traveling to another place.

St Patrick's Juries

Mon, 17 Mar 2008 08:57:04 CDT

Today is St. Patrick's Day, so I thought I'd write about the jury system in Ireland. It turns out to be a complex and poignant topic.

In Which I Go To Japan

Mon, 17 Mar 2008 07:43:37 CDT

.Things have been quiet here lately, but my excuse is good. I've been in Japan, talking about juries.

Jury Duty Saves A Life

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 11:18:21 CDT

Sure, it’s a fundamental bulwark of liberty, the only place in our system where a few ordinary citizens can deny the power of prosecutors, judges, presidents, and legislators.

The Case Of The Troubled Jury Foreman

Mon, 03 Mar 2008 11:15:51 CST

The trial judge thought it was merely glossophobia.