Pennsylvania (PA) Trial Skills CLE Course Catalog

Handling a lying witness – whether on deposition or on the witness stand at trial – requires both careful planning and consideration of your overall case strategy. Experienced trial lawyer Paul Fraidenburgh gives expert guidance on what steps you should take when a witness you are examining strays from the facts to ensure that you maximize the benefits for the client you represent. Paul will share valuable tips that will help you with your examinations of all witnesses (lay and expert) in all settings (depositions and trial). This program will benefit litigators of all experience levels.

Drawing upon the timeless insights of Aristotle, Cicero and modern practitioners like Bono, Peter Afrasiabi reveals the secrets of persuasion that you can start using today in your practice (and your life) to make you a compelling advocate for the people and the causes you champion.

Listen as we provide the audience with a comprehensive discussion on the top strategies to prepare for success at a trial. The speakers will delve into the fundamental aspects to consider, including proven tactics and defenses.

This CLE presentation seeks to provide practitioners with guidance and advice on how to effectively cross-examine a witness at trial. The panel will discuss the goals of cross-examination, share how to best prepare for the examination, and offer practical tips and tricks for ensuring a strong cross-examination of a witness.

Veteran litigator Andrew Struve shares his list of things lawyers should take care not to do if they want to avoid pissing off the judges hearing their matters. The insights range from the obvious (if you stop to think about them) to the very subtle (including some that only the most experienced litigators know) and his guidance will be highly beneficial for all litigators – whether you’ve been practicing for 20 minutes or 20 years. The program includes a handy checklist of 30 things you should never do in court that you’ll find yourself consulting again and again as you prepare for each new court appearance.

Having spent more than twenty-five years as a law firm and in-house litigator and now as a client, Zach McGee provides critical advice for litigators of all levels who are preparing their clients to testify in depositions in civil cases, with a special focus on the unique issues you tend to face when preparing CEOs, directors and other senior executives.  This program also reviews the many benefits of using a deposition prep video program with your clients to help prepare them to testify.

Despite the old saying, facts do not speak for themselves. People must speak for them. Further, humans learn and store information by stories, not by recitation of facts. Juror persuasion happens when the right story is told the right way. Join nationally respected trial consultant Rich Matthews for an exploration of the crucial but often undervalued part that the right witness with the right preparation plays in moving jurors to vote your way.

Whether you’ve won or lost in the trial court, winning your case on appeal requires an entirely different approach in terms of your strategy and the mechanics of presenting your case to the appellate court. Pivoting successfully from trial court to appellate litigator can make the difference between losing and winning your appeal. Peter Afrasiabi, Co-Director of the Appellate Practice Clinic at the UC Irvine School of Law and the Appellate Practice Chair at One LLP, guides you through the strategic decisions you need to make and the practical steps you need to follow to file, brief, argue and win your next appeal.

Whether you’ve won or lost in the trial court, winning your case on appeal requires an entirely different approach in terms of your strategy and the mechanics of presenting your case to the appellate court. Pivoting successfully from trial court to appellate litigator can make the difference between losing and winning your appeal. Peter Afrasiabi, Co-Director of the Appellate Practice Clinic at the UC Irvine School of Law and the Appellate Practice Chair at One LLP, provides sage advice on how to prepare for and present your oral argument to an appellate court to help you win your next appeal.