While glancing through a pile of newspapers, I came across a review of "Crime: Stories" by Ferdinand von Schirach. He is a German criminal defense lawyer writing about a few...

One reason, among many, why I love our adversary system of justice is that it gives us one public place where we can rationally and politely debate very serious matters....

Not long ago I met a former client and some friends for lunch at the Bel Air Hotel in Los Angeles. The former client regaled the table about her horrible...

Imagine your worst nightmare. An ex-lover testifying in open court, with all the salacious details spread around the world, that you transformed yourself into a genetically engineered replicant who was...

Lozano. Just the name conjures up a kaleidoscope of memories. A different time in my life. I still carry the scars of those battles. They so desperately wanted, no needed,...

I have a confession to make: some of my best ideas have come from clients. This shouldn’t be a shock since who knows the case better than the client? Yet...

Headhunting, in ancient cultures, was the taking of an enemy’s head after killing them. It was a matter of prestige. The more things change, the more they stay the same....

Young lawyers and law students are always asking what areas are ripe for cross-examination.  Here is a checklist we used when we prepared for a trial several years ago.  It...

  March 13th marked 75 years since the death of Clarence Darrow. I just had the pleasure of reading the manuscript of John Farrell’s new biography of Darrow. I enjoyed...

“Cross-examination is the greatest legal engine ever invented for the discovery of truth. You can do anything with a bayonet except sit on it. A lawyer can do anything with...