John E. Hall, Jr., Partner with Hall, Booth, Smith, P.C. joins Bill Kanasky, Jr., Ph.D. to talk about the trial process. Bill and John discuss preparation for trial, managing stress leading up to trial, as well as, managing stresses during trial. John shares the strategic approach his team employs to prepare for trial and how he works with his trial team. John and Bill talk about how to stay focused on trial matters while there may be conversations taking place about settlement, as well as, how to deal with opinions and ideas from other stakeholders such as insurance carriers, reinsurance, excess, etc. They talk about how to handle judges that may not be favorable toward the defense, the importance of strategic objections, and managing clients at trial. Lastly, Bill and John discuss the differences between the plaintiffs bar and defense bar with regards to collaboration, the structural issues that encourage the sharing on the plaintiffs side and limit it on the defense side, and solutions to providing younger attorneys with more opportunities to learn and become better trial attorneys. Watch the video of this episode: https://www.courtroomsciences.com/r/sV8

Legal Sector Analyst and Forecaster Jordan Furlong joins host Ava Hernandez to discuss a range of topics around the future of legal including shifts in market expectations, the development of early career lawyers, and changes in the business of law. Jordan and Ava talk about how law firms must reconsider and reimagine their approach to their purpose. Jordan highlights how the development program for new associates needs to change, in particular due to the impact AI and other technologies are having on lower-level legal work. They discuss generational divides in law firms and how successful firms are managing the mix of generations in their firms. Ava and Jordan also speak about the expectations of clients today, how difficult it is for firms to adapt to these changing client requests, and the lack of trust on both the law firm side and the client side when considering changes. Lastly, Jordan and Ava talk about how millennials can position themselves to be the type of lawyer they want to be. Watch the video of this episode: https://www.courtroomsciences.com/r/Rk1

As a follow-up to Part 1 (Episode #220) of what not to do in opening statements, Bill Kanasky, Jr., Ph.D. talks about what to do in your opening statements. Bill discusses a few key principles for delivering opening statements: the speed of delivery, eye contact, repetition, pausing/using silence, movement, volume, and telling the jurors what you want. Bill talks about primacy and recency effects and leveraging them in the delivery of an opening statement and also defines and describes the cognitive lens and how it should be used to frame your case. Bill breaks down why a shorter opening statement is critical and how much time should be spent on each element of the opening. Watch the video of this episode: https://www.courtroomsciences.com/r/WOQ