Resources
Everything here that is free, in one place.
The library index, the eight sheets that are open to anyone, and fifty-four articles — arranged the way the library is, so you can start from the question you actually have. Nothing on this page asks for a card, and only the three things at the bottom ask for an email.
Every sheet in the Trial Preparation Library is listed and searchable by code section, whether or not you are a member.
Full two-page sheets. No email, no account, and they print.
Longer pieces on the cases and code sections behind the sheets.
The six libraries
Start from the question, not the syllabus.
Each library below lists its free sheets and the articles that belong to it, and links into the full index of all two hundred and fifty-seven.
Library 01
Evidence Fundamentals & Hearsay
The working order of objections, and the whole hearsay system. The library you open most often, and the one every other library leans on.
Open the index →Free sheets
- Free sheetSection 352 and Rule 403: the discretionary exclusion
- Free sheetWhat foundation actually means
- Free sheetParty admissions
- Free sheetExcited utterance and the spontaneous statement
Articles
- #MeToo and the Evidentiary Rules of Third Party Witness Accusations
- Applying Evidence Code Section 1271 to Certain Documents
- California Evidence Code Section 1152: Admissible? Discoverable? Ever?
- California Evidence Code Section 1237: Introducing Forgotten Memories
- California's Secondary Evidence Rule: Helpful, Yes. But Not an End Run
- Foundation and the Lay Witness: A Road Map to Admissibility
- How Evidentiary Decisions Shape the Story a Jury Ultimately Hears
- How to Win Harassment Cases When the Defense Says Nothing Sexual Happened
- Impeachment Basics: The ABCs of Challenging Witness Credibility
- Impeachment Evidence: Attacking Credibility And Proving Its Truth?
- Is it Too Late to Say I'm Sorry? Usher, Justin Bieber, and Judicial Notice
- Judicial Notice: Four Must-Know Rules
- Lay Witnesses and Opinion Testimony: Admissible?
- Livin' On The Edge: Steven Tyler and Party Admissions
- Man Takes a Spoonful of Medicine: Hearsay??
- Martha Stewart, the Merrill Lynch Assistant, and Allowable Inferences
- Meeks v. AutoZone: Let Me Just Tell You About That Smoking Gun
- O.J. Simpson and the Hearsay Rule
- Personal Business on a Business Device: Is Anything Private?
- Persuasive Shortcuts: Document Summaries In Federal and California Courts
- Policy or Habit Evidence: Statewide Class Action or Single-Plaintiff Arbitration
- Social Media Evidence: What You Need To Know
- The Admissibility of Character Evidence
- The Judge's Factfinding Rule (In Jury Trials)
- The Self-Serving Hearsay Exception?
- This Land is Your Land ... Actually, this Land is My Land
- Uber's Not So Good (and Nonprivileged) Investigation Report
- Understanding the Business Records Exception to the Hearsay Rule
- Waiving Privileges: Existence, Purpose, or Significant Part?
- When Text Messages Become Harassing Conduct
Library 02
Deposition Skills
A deposition is a trial document being written in advance. Everything here is aimed at what the transcript will do in front of a jury.
Open the index →Free sheets
Articles
Library 03
Expert Witnesses
Designation through cross, built around the two gatekeeping regimes and what actually persuades a judge to exclude an opinion.
Open the index →Free sheets
Articles
- Ajaxo v. E*Trade: "May" Does Not = "Must"
- Can An Expert Relay Hearsay Evidence To The Jury?
- Documents Reviewed Before Testimony: Work Product Or Discoverable?
- Evidence Code Section 721: The Sword and Shield (Mostly Sword)
- Examining Expert Witnesses in the Post-Sanchez Era
- Expert Witness Declarations: Admissible Opinion or Jargon Word Salad?
- Expert Witnesses Can Win or Lose a Case - Here's Why
- Federal Rule of Evidence 702: A Useful Rule (When It's Followed)
- People v. Mooring: Remembering Step-Three From Sanchez's Step One
- Sargon: The Beyoncé of Expert Opinion Common Law
- Strobel v. Johnson & Johnson: Got a Hearsay Problem? Don't Give Up ...
- The Expert Impeachment Witness: Fight the Facts, Not the Opinion
- The Supplemental Witness Exchange: The Father's Day Of California Litigation
Library 04
Trial Skills
Opening through closing, on the assumption that the case is a documents case and the witnesses are sophisticated.
Open the index →Library 05
The Trial War Room
Not a course. The drawer you open at 10:40 p.m. the night before, or at counsel table with the judge waiting. Every sheet here reads in under ninety seconds.
Open the index →Library 06
Jury Selection
The one library that is not about evidence. Built on Picked to Win and the JuryBoard workflow, for the two days of trial that decide more than any evidentiary ruling.
Open the index →Free sheets
What these sheets are built on
The book
Picked to Win
There are no articles behind this library yet, because it does not run on the evidence code. It runs on the jury-selection method in the book — how to build a panel theory before voir dire, what to ask, and what to do with the answers.
Also free, for an email
Three things you can use this week.
These three ask for a name and an email, so the material can be sent to you as well as shown to you. No card, and no trial period to remember to cancel.
Rules of Evidence cheat sheet
Foundation elements and the objection each one answers, in the order they come up.
Get the cheat sheet →Sargon v. USC training
A full lesson on expert gatekeeping, worked through the case that governs it in California.
Watch the training →Picked to Win, chapter one
The real first chapter of the book, thirty-two pages, not a marketing excerpt.
Read chapter one →If you want the rest
The other two hundred and forty-nine sheets come with the membership.
Every sheet in all six libraries, searchable by code section, plus each video as it goes up and every course. The eight above are the same sheets, so you already know what you would be getting.
