26. Direct Hit, with Mike Beckwith
In Episode 26 of May the Record Reflect, we’re joined by trial veteran Mike Beckwith to talk about one of the foundations of trial practice: the direct examination. As a Chief Assistant United States Attorney with the Department of Justice, Mike has litigated hundreds of cases before trial courts in multiple federal districts and the Ninth Circuit. Tune in to find out why he thinks direct examination is crucial to your case, the best way to deal with bad facts and unlikeable witnesses, and how to comport yourself on your feet and in the moment.
Topics
5:35 Where your case is won
6:55 Why direct is harder than it seems
10:44 How to keep direct interesting
13:40 Humanizing a despicable witness
18:50 Objections from opposing counsel
21:08 Visual aids
24:23 Body language
27:17 If you’ve stunk up your direct
30:17 Introducing bad facts
34:43 Redirect
36:09 Signature sign-off questions
Quote
“With a good witness, you feel like Clarence Darrow. With a bad witness, you feel like a first-year law student. But there are good and bad out there, and so you’ve got to listen, because the good witness will give you something you want to follow up on that you didn’t have in your notes, and the bad witness you really need to be careful with because there’s a reason why they’re doing what they’re doing and a lot of times you can shift to something that’s going to explain that or you can shift them off a topic that’s irrelevant or is just going to go down a rabbit hole that is going to confuse the jury.” Mike Beckwith