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Course 01 · 4 MCLE credits

California Evidence 101

The Evidence Code read in the order a trial actually uses it. Definitions first, then relevance and Section 352, then witnesses and opinion, then the privileges and exclusions, and finally hearsay — from the working rule out to the exceptions you will actually meet.

Twenty-eight sessions in four parts, self-paced, on demand. Taught by David Sugden, a trial lawyer at Call & Jensen in Newport Beach.

All four courses
$99a month
  • This course, and the other three
  • Sixteen MCLE credits in total
  • The member library, and everything added to it
See the membership
Just this course — $499, once. Yours to keep. Buy this course →

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28 sessions
4 MCLE credits
On demand · self-paced
$499 once, or included in the membership
30 days money back
What it is

The code, in the order the trial uses it.

Every litigator has the Evidence Code within reach and almost none of us have read it through. We learn it in fragments, one objection at a time, usually while the fragment is being overruled. This course reads it properly, division by division, and puts each part next to the moment in a trial when it matters.

It is not a survey and it is not a code commentary. The organizing question throughout is the practical one: what does the judge need before this comes in, and what do you say when it is your turn.

Take it if

  • You object by instinct and would rather object by rule
  • You have argued a motion in limine and felt the ground move
  • You are building a record someone will read back to you later
  • You want the four hours of credit on something you will use

It is Californian

  • The course is built on the California Evidence Code, not the Federal Rules
  • The reasoning carries across; the section numbers do not
  • If you practice outside California, the other three courses travel better
The curriculum

Four parts, twenty-eight sessions.

Watch them in any order you like, but they are built to be taken in this one. The code is taught in the sequence a trial actually reaches for it.

01

Part I — Definitions, relevance, and the general provisions

  • Words and phrases the code defines for you: conduct, evidence, law, statement, unavailable, writing
  • The burden of producing evidence, and the burden of proof
  • Relevance, and the “working rule” that makes it usable at counsel table
  • The role of judge and jury, and the preliminary facts that decide admissibility
  • Introducing evidence, and making an offer of proof that preserves the issue
  • Section 352, and arguing against evidence called “prejudicial”
  • Judicial notice, and what a court will and will not take it on
CasesMangini v. R.J. Reynolds, 7 Cal. 4th 1057 (1994)Mack v. State Bd. of Education, 22 Cal. App. 2d 370 (1964)Scott v. JP Morgan, 214 Cal. App. 4th 743 (2013)
02

Part II — Witnesses, examination, and opinion testimony

  • Personal knowledge, foundation, and the deposition strategies that build both
  • Expert witnesses, their qualifications, and cross-examining them on writings
  • Direct examination, and showing a writing to a witness
  • Inconsistent statements, and the hearsay exception that carries them
  • Refreshing recollection, and examining an adverse witness
  • Credibility, character for honesty and veracity, and prior consistent statements
  • Lay opinion, expert opinion, and the admissibility spectrum between them
  • The bases of an expert opinion, and what an expert may rely on
CasesMcGarity v. Department of Transportation, 8 Cal. App. 4th 677 (1992)People v. Bell, 40 Cal. 4th 582 (2007)People v. Sanchez, 63 Cal. 4th 665 (2016)
03

Part III — Privileges, character, and the other exclusions

  • The attorney-client privilege, and what waives it
  • Spousal, marital, and testimonial privilege
  • The psychotherapist-patient privilege
  • Character evidence, and the limits on using it
  • Mediation privileges, and settlement discussions
  • Insurance coverage, and subsequent remedial measures
CasesZurich v. Superior Court, 155 Cal. App. 4th 1485 (2007)Fish v. Superior Court, 42 Cal. App. 5th 811 (2019)
04

Part IV — Hearsay, the exceptions, and writings

  • Hearsay defined, and the working rule for recognizing it on your feet
  • Admissions, co-conspirator admissions, and declarations against interest
  • Prior inconsistent and prior consistent statements
  • Past recollection recorded, and spontaneous statements
  • Contemporaneous statements, state of mind, and writings
  • Business records, public records, former testimony, and published authorities
  • Authenticating documents, the secondary evidence rule, and the subpoena duces tecum
CasesTaggart v. Super Seer Corp., 33 Cal. App. 4th 1697 (1995)

Four hours of MCLE credit on completion. State Bar of California approved MCLE provider #19358. Self-paced, on any device, and yours to keep.

Or all four

Two courses cost more than all four.

If you are likely to want a second one, the membership is already cheaper than buying two, and it does not stop at four.

This course, and one more
$998

Two of the four, bought once each. Eight MCLE credits.

versus
A year of the membership
$990

All four courses, sixteen credits, the member library, and everything added while you are a member.

See the membership Just this course — $499
The other three

What comes after the code.

Deposition Skills Clinic

A deposition is not discovery. It is the record you will read to the jury. Six sessions.

See the course →

Expert Witness Academy

Designation, the deposition, Daubert and Sargon, and the cross that survives a redirect. Five sessions.

See the course →

Business Trial Academy

The transition from litigating a case to trying one, from voir dire to the close. Five modules.

See the course →
Start

Four hours, and the code stops being a lookup.

Thirty days to decide it was worth it, whichever way you buy it.

All four — $99 a month This course — $499

Not ready? The three free resources cost nothing and take an afternoon.