A book signing event Tuesday evening for the second edition of On the Jury Trial, authored by Winston & Strawn partner Tom Melsheimer and Fifth Court of Appeals Justice Craig Smith, drew a crowd of about 60 lawyers and judges.
The first edition of On the Jury Trial was published in 2017. With many changes impacting the practice of law in the eight years since then, some of which were ushered in by the Covid-19 pandemic, Melsheimer and Justice Smith felt the time was right for an update.
“The second edition was really designed to address things like remote advocacy,” Melsheimer said to the crowd at his house in north Dallas Tuesday evening. Adapting to changes in juror attitudes is something Melsheimer said “trial lawyers are struggling to do.”
“And we try to give some guidance on that,” he said.
Former Judge Royal Furgeson, who was present for Tuesday’s event, helped the duo publish the first edition book through the University of North Texas-Dallas when he was dean of the UNT Dallas College of Law. The proceeds went to the law school and even funded several scholarships.
“It made such a difference. It helped put us on the map. It helped struggling law students make it through the night,” Furgeson said.
Furgeson wrote the foreword in the first edition of the book, and it was reprinted in the second edition.
U.S. District Judge Ada Brown was also present and said she gives a copy of On the Jury Trial to all her law clerks.
“I’ll tell you this will have a place of honor in my chambers,” Brown said of her copy of the book.
She said some of the tips she found helpful involved when to make “non-awkward” eye contact with the jury and when to use an old-fashioned demonstrative in the moment.
“One of the things I found most helpful was teaching, especially young lawyers, not to run away from confronting tough discussions that are part of trials,” Brown said.
The second edition was published on Aug. 11.