The Complete Advocate

The Complete Advocate is a comprehensive guide to the advocate from the beginning of a case to its end. This book covers the essential skills needed to perform well as an advocate including research, writing, time management, client interviewing and public speaking. Technical topics such as examination in chief, cross-examination, civil and criminal applications, opening and closing speeches, appellate advocacy, court etiquette, traditions and ethics for lawyers are also examined. The author adopts a practical approach to the topics giving many examples to guide beginner advocates.

The Complete Advocate: A Practice File for Representing Clients from Beginning to End can be thought of as a start-to-finish approach to representing a client--a realistic way for a student to be oriented into the administration of a case from the preliminary stages until the very end. The book is applicable to many contexts and provides professors with a variety of options in designing their curricula. The book is ideal for skills courses--first-year writing and research and advocacy, trial and appellate advocacy, drafting, interviewing, negotiation and settlement--as well as for trial and appellate advocacy competitions--as all of the necessary materials and answers are provided. The subject matter of The Complete Advocate also makes it useful as a supplementary text for doctrinal courses, such as civil rights/discrimination, employment law, elder law, professional responsibility, administrative law, etc., insofar as a professor of those courses would like to add a practical component to the syllabus--using the text as an example of how a case might unfold in the doctrinal area being taught. Finally, the text lends itself to being taught by a group of colleagues in several classes, so different professors teaching trial advocacy, legal drafting, and settlement/negotiation might all co-teach the text as to their dimensions, and provide useful exchanges of information for the purposes of developing the individual classes. That is, the events of an attempted settlement in one section could affect the subsequent trial efforts in another, which could affect any ultimate settlement achieved in a third. This allows for a lively dynamic across the curriculum. A "Course Adoption Grid" illustrating which assignments can be used for which courses is included in the Teacher's Manual. The Teacher's Manual also helps guide the professor in how to teach as much of the process as desired, focusing on several skills or merely one.

Special Needs Advocacy Resource Book: What You Can Do Now to Advocate for Your Exceptional Child's Education is a unique handbook that teaches parents how to work with schools to achieve optimal learning situations and accommodations for their child's needs. From IEPs and 504 Plans, to IDEA and NCLB, navigating today's school system can be difficult for even the most up-to-date, education-savvy parent. Special needs advocates Rich Weinfeld and Michelle Davis provide parents and professional advocates with concise, easy-to-understand definitions and descriptions of legal terms and school regulations, along with checklists, tips, questionnaires, and other tools. Topics covered in this handy guide include gathering accurate information about a child's education, navigating school meetings, understanding education law, and best practices in the classroom, working effectively with parents and school systems, discovering educational options beyond the standard, and much more. Parents and advocates not only will feel informed by Weinfeld and Davis' vast knowledge of the inner workings of the school system—they'll be empowered to help their kids succeed in school. Educational Resource

An advocate may know what to say but is only effective when he or she knows how to be persuasive. Combining fact with know-how to persuade judges, juries, and arbitrator, the book teaches immediately useful techniques such as how to channel the initial adrenaline buzz, grab and hold the fact finder's attention, gesture while speaking, speaking in phrases, and polishing the persuasive style. Based on 25 years of experience from coaching practitioners, this guide integrates cutting edge discoveries in human factors, gesture studies, linguistics, neuroscience, and sports psychology to give litigators a competitive edge. This brand new edition includes all new illustrations and new information on motions, arbitrations, and appeals.

In Strong Advocate, Thomas Strong, one of the most successful trial lawyers in Missouri’s history, chronicles his adventures as a contemporary personal injury attorney. Though the profession is held in low esteem by the general public, Strong entered the field with the right motives: to help victims who have been injured by defective products or through the negligence of others. As a twelve-year-old in rural southwest Missouri during the Great Depression, Strong bought a cow, then purchased others as he could afford them, and eventually financed his education with the milk he sold. After graduating law school and serving in the Army’s Counter Intelligence Corps, he rejected offers to practice in New York and San Francisco and returned to his hometown of Springfield. Strong exhibited his lifelong passion to represent the underdog early in his practice, the “trial by ambush” days when neither side was required to disclose witnesses or exhibits. He quickly became known for his audacious approach to trying cases. Tactics included asking a friend to ride on top of a moving car and hiring a local character called “Crazy Max” to recreate an automobile accident. One fraud case ended with Strong owning a bank and his opponent going to prison. When he sued a labor union for the wrongful death of his client’s spouse, he found his own life threatened. With changes in the law that allowed discovery of information from an opponent’s files as well as the exhibits and witnesses to be used at trial, Strong and fellow personal injury attorneys forced a wide array of manufacturers to produce safer products. When witnesses of a terrible collision claimed both roadways had green lights simultaneously, Strong purchased the traffic light controller. After three months of continuous testing at a university, the controller failed, showing four green lights, and Strong learned that fail-safe devices were available but had not been implemented. These fail-safe devices are now standard on traffic lights throughout the country. In his last venture, Strong represented the state of Missouri in its case against the tobacco industry, culminating in a settlement totaling billions of dollars. He reflects on the changes—not always for the better—in his oft-maligned profession since he entered the field in the 1950s. Thomas Strong’s story of tenacity, quick wits, and humor demonstrates what made him such a creative and effective attorney. Lawyers and law students can learn much from this giant of the bar, and all readers will be entertained and heartened by his victories for the everyman.

"A new, straightforward presentation-- in understanding language-- of the essentials you need to know to get you child what he or she needs"--Cover.

"Get your nose out of your notes, look your audience in the eye, and become the confident public speaker you've always wanted to be. Grab and hold your listeners' attention with skills you can depend on every time you speak. The Articulate Attorney: Public Speaking for Lawyers will make you a more self-assured, compelling communicator. Discover answers to these common questions: How do I channel nervous energy into dynamic delivery? What is a reliable way to remember what I want to say? How do I stop saying um and think in silence instead? Why is gesturing so important? What do I do with my hands? How can I make PowerPoint interactive? Based on more than 30 years of experience coaching lawyers, Brian K. Johnson and Marsha Hunter address the distinctive communication skills expected of attorneys. They offer practical, immediately useful solutions that integrate cutting-edge discoveries in human factors, linguistics, neuroscience, gesture studies, and sports psychology. These techniques will transform you into a more confident speaker, whether addressing colleagues in a conference room, counseling clients in a boardroom, or presenting a CLE in a ballroom"--Unedited summary from book cover.