Legal Research

"Don't Alienate the Judge"

This post was written by Evan Schaeffer: "When dealing with the judge at trial, try your obsequious best never to show any hint of irritation or disrespect.

That's the advice of Martin L. Grayson, who writes in his excellent, readable book The View from the First Chair: What Every Trial Lawyer Really Needs to Know:

In my opinion, one of the biggest mistakes an attorney can make is alienating the judge. You will put yourself and your client at risk of losing every close call, having every request for continuance or extension of discovery procedures summarily denied and, worst of all, having the judge signal the jury at trial that you are not trustworthy.

Good advice.

To reach the blog post and the active link, click on the author's name.

Source: Trial Practice Tips Weblog, 11 August 2010, reproduced with permission of the author.

Full post as published by Stark County Law Library Blawg on August 12, 2010 (boomark / email).