Cross-Examination Handbook: Persuasion, Strategies, and Techniques (Aspen Coursebook)

Mandatory for any trial lawyer to own. Full of key cross examination skills.

Great coverage of the subject and a very helpful guide complete with checklists.

Great book; methodical, incisive and cerebral; and practical.

Very well done

I enjoy cross and this book is fast becoming my daily companion

This book really should be called The Cross-Examination Bible. Clark, Dekle and Bailey have done the heavy lifting, amassing the best strategies and techniques for any trial lawyer or student.First and foremost, don’t be fooled by the name. This book teaches so much more than just how to question a witness on the stand—including the fundamentals of building a case theory, and turning it into a story that will resonate with a jury. In terms of cross-examination, no stone is left unturned. This book breaks it down, showing how to identify the purpose of a cross, preparing questions, and executing it effectively for the jury. Every technique is illustrated with real-life examples from masters such as Clarence Darrow, F. Lee Bailey, and Abraham Lincoln, through transcripts of some of their most famous trials.I found the section on finding and using social media materials to impeach witnesses particularly illuminating, given how prolific people’s “digital” lives are becoming. This edition also features a great new section on visual storytelling, something that can make or break a case, including when and how to use photos, computer animations, charts or graphs.In law school, I was an avid mock trial competitor. Oh that I wish I’d had this book then! As a new attorney starting my career in trial work, the Cross-Examination Handbook is one of the few textbooks that not only will I keep, but will refer to again and again.

Cross-Examination Handbook: Persuasion Strategies and Techniques is an outstanding treatise that successfully conveys the preparation of a cross-examination in both a civil and criminal context. This book is not only beneficial to law students, but also to practitioners with years of experience. Clearly, Clark, Dekle and Bailey have combined their years of actual courtroom experience into a single treatise that teaches you how to approach and construct a cross-examination in the context of the entire trial. While using examples from both civil and criminal case files, the reader learns how to create a case theory from the beginning and carry it throughout the entire case, specifically, during cross-examination. The checklists and explanations of the different types of cross-examinations and how to accomplish an effective cross, based on the type of witness, are invaluable. As a hearing officer that has presided over more than 15,000 hearings, I highly recommend this handbook to anyone - from law student to seasoned practitioner.

Cross-examination has been described as “the greatest legal engine ever invented for the discovery of truth.” JOHN H. WIGMORE, 5 WIGMORE, EVIDENCE §1367, at 32 (Chadbourn rev. 1974). Yet, according to authors Clark, Dekle, Sr., and Bailey, “[t]oo few trial lawyers are good at cross-examination.”Readers rejoice: this book provides the building blocks for preparing and conducting winning cross-examinations. This book explains the concession-seeking cross, basic impeachment concepts, and how to use visuals and exercise control over the recalcitrant, unruly witness.This book is an essential companion to:(1) LARRY POZNER AND ROGER J. DODD, CROSS-EXAMINATION: SCIENCE AND TECHNIQUES (LexisNexis 2d ed. 2004);(2) FRANCIS L. WELLMAN, THE ART OF CROSS-EXAMINATION (Macmillan Co. 4th ed. 1936); and(3) JAMES H. MCCOMAS, DYNAMIC CROSS-EXAMINATION: A WHOLE NEW WAY TO CREATE OPPORTUNITIES TO WIN (Trial Guides 2011).

I started reading this and couldn't put it down. All I can say is WOW! Never, ever ask a question you don't already know the answer to... brilliant. I hope I never end up on the witness stand anytime soon. Having read this I now see how hard it is for anyone to portray a different story to the one the barrister wants to portray.

Great product