Closing arguments are one of the most anticipated parts of any jury trial. Consequently, it’s important for the advocate to choose his or her words carefully for maximum impact. We’ve found that jurors throughout the country are very responsive to an approach that emphasizes the inability of one side to prove its case. Finding a way to couch the argument with broad appeal is all the more persuasive.
Lawyers, Guns and Money: An Occasional Series on Movies, TV and Other Stories About Lawyers and the Law
Michael Clayton (2007, Dir. Tony Gilroy)
Is Michael Clayton a lawyer movie? It’s a fair question, given that the main character isn’t really a lawyer. He operates in the dark corners of the legal profession, trying not to get too dirty, until he reaches a point where he can no longer look at himself in the mirror. Played by George Clooney, Michael Clayton isn’t the kind of movie to supply an unequivocal happy ending. Having settled accounts, Michael climbs into the back of a New York City cab, hands the driver some money and tells him to drive — anywhere. The credits roll over Clooney’s pensive face.
With Police Actions Recently Targeting Journalists, Will Courts Protect the Rights of the Free Press?
Last Friday, police in Marion, Kansas, seized the computers, file servers and personal cellphones of journalists at the local newspaper, the Marion County Record. According to a search warrant, officers believed there was probable cause that newspaper personnel had used equipment seized by officers to commit identity theft. Journalism is not a crime. Reporters and editors are not criminals. The First Amendment guarantees it. This common view of freedom of the press in America appears to have escaped the attention lately of at least one police department in Kansas. And one in Texas, too.
Dallas Judge Who Appointed Campaign Treasurer as Receiver Won’t Be Recused
The defendants in a breach of contract dispute had argued that Dallas County District Court Judge Ashley Wysocki’s appointment of her campaign treasurer, James Stanton, as receiver in the case mandated her recusal. Judge Wysocki and Regional Presiding Judge Ray Wheless disagreed.
Litigation Roundup: A $1.2B ‘Revenge Porn’ Verdict, Texas’ Vision Care Law Draws Suit
In this edition of Litigation Roundup, a Houston jury awards a woman $1.2B in a revenge porn case she brought against her ex-boyfriend, the state of Texas is facing another lawsuit over a new law set to go into effect Sept. 1, and McCathern teams up with civil rights lawyer Ben Crump in a suit against Harris County over its treatment of jailed individuals.