Each time you visit a hospital, you put your trust in its facilities, practices, and medical staff, including nurses and doctors. Unfortunately, that doesn’t always lead to a positive outcome. Medical malpractice occurs when these entities fail to act under the prevailing professional standards or fail to foresee consequences that a professional person, having the […]

Bus accidents can result in devastating injuries, costly medical bills, and extreme stress. Unfortunately, it’s not always easy to determine who’s at fault or who you should seek damages from.  Depending on the circumstances, and extent of your injuries, you may need the legal support of an experienced bus accident attorney to help you hold […]

Staying on top of the latest driving laws in VA isn’t always easy. However, if you don’t, it could result in costly tickets, license suspension, or even impoundment of your vehicle. In this post, we dive into some of the new laws taking effect in 2024 as well discuss a few important driving laws in […]

“You can’t get nowhere with a thousand-dollar saddle on a ten-dollar horse.” That line comes from a story that Gerry Spence is known to share: Uncle Slim points to a dude in the corral trying to saddle a beaten-up horse with a fancy saddle, made of black leather lined with silver. Slim turns to Spence and […]

The Courtroom Deputies placed their bets. And they got it right. I found out after a recent trial that the Courtroom Deputies accurately predicted the verdict. Impressive, but not surprising. The Deputies are in court every day. They watch case after case, lawyer after lawyer, and they know what the Judge will do better than […]

There is one thing that separates good from great. Grit. All great trial lawyers have it. “Great trial lawyers did not become great overnight. They are gritty individuals who often lost in their early careers and did not lose sight of the long-term goal of improving and learning from each loss. They were not easily […]

You are standing in the middle of the courtroom. The jury is staring at you. And the judge is waiting. What you decide to do next matters. And it is informed not just by the few weeks of preparation you did for that case, but by that preparation AND who you have become as a […]

If you try cases, only five things matter. Everything else is a distraction. 1. Jury Selection 2. Opening Statement 3. Direct Examinations 4. Cross-Examinations 5. Closing Argument That’s it. Effective trial lawyers approach everything that they do with an eye towards those five things. There really is no need to get lost in the pretrial […]

“You’re doing too much; it’s just a bench trial.” Wrong. A bench trial is still a trial: opening statement, direct examinations, cross examinations, and closing argument. Judges are people too. They make decisions just like jurors, so it is in our client’s benefit to approach bench trials the same way we approach jury trials. As […]

Sorry, ChatGPT. You can’t replace the trial lawyer. There will always be a need for those willing to stand up in a courtroom. For those who advocate on behalf of others. And for those who bring humanity to our justice system. There will always be a need for the trial lawyer. Tools like ChatGPT will […]