Law students spend hours grinding through trial and appellate case reports. They spend hours learning the intricacies of contracts and torts—more hours in trial practice seminars. But seldom is there any emphasis or assistance on how to conduct an interview of a person who may be a helpful or harmful witness in litigation for a client.
Lawyers, as a general rule, are not good interviewers. If they receive any training in this area it is to craft questions for the courtroom. No training is given on how to approach a person outside the courtroom, on a construction site, at the person’s home, or in a lawyer’s office, one-to-one, face-to-face.
