Articles

"Be sincere, Be Brief, Be seated.

— Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Too often in jury trials, attorneys mistakenly think getting evidence admitted is a dry and mechanical process separate and apart from the task of persuasion. Closing argument, the theory goes, is when it will all come together. Experienced trial lawyers know how misguided this approach can be. They understand that every stage of trial should have the same objective: to argue your case to the jury. 

One of the most important metho...

Must documents always be produced to proof their contents? What if the documents are lost or missing? California's secondary evidence rule (Cal. Evid. Code §§ 1521 - 1523) provides a commonsense approach that begins with a simple general rule: "The content of a writing may be proved by otherwise admissible secondary evidence." Cal. Evid. Code § 1521(a). But this general rule of admissibility does not apply if the court finds either (1) a genuine dispute exists concerning material terms of the wr...

Referring to the "best evidence rule" in California litigation is a little like calling The Cosby Show the most family-friendly option on television. While there was a time that such assertions were valid, saying so today just sounds uninformed and out of touch. The best evidence rule ended up having so many exceptions that it was abrogated and replaced by the "secondary evidence rule," codified in California Evidence Code section 1521, et seq. The vast majority of practitioners in California kn...