One more CLE opportunity

In composing my last post, I neglected to mention Writing Techniques for Winning Cases, to be presented by Gary Kinder in Chicago, IL (Mar. 6), Washington, DC (Mar. 27), Los Angeles, CA (Apr. 17), and Houston, TX (June 19). I have to confess that I don’t know much about Gary or his seminar. But the program description looks promising:

Lawyers often mistake forceful advocacy with belittling the other side’s case, exaggerating their own case, and berating opposing counsel. Not only are these and similar tactics professionally irresponsible, they also annoy judges.

In Writing Techniques for Winning Cases, Gary Kinder emphasizes the importance of ethics in writing a persuasive brief and shows lawyers: how to make judges want to decide for them, how to shape a case for impact, how to get the judge’s attention, how to present a case quickly and cleanly, how to capture a judge’s imagination, and how to create arguments no opponent can deny.

Comments

[Cheryl Stephens]

I attended one of Gary Kinder's writing seminars almost 20 years ago. He was terrific then and could only get better.

[Ray]

Thanks, Cheryl. A first-hand testimonial is most helpful to the readers.

[Kasey Libby]

I attended Mr. Kinder's seminar in April of last year. It was very good, made me want to be a writer more than a lawyer (which, it turns out, is exactly what Mr. Kinder is). He appeals to the integrity of the process rather than scoring points by shining the light on the ugly spots on the opponent. While I believe there is a time and place for a knock out punch, it must be through application of law to facts, not application of judgment or condemnation to the opponent's behavior. Use your words to weave sympathy for your client, not vitriol for the opponent.