Bench trials are common but rarely discussed in this column. These cases often involve complex, technical issues in which it becomes obvious as the case develops at trial that the judge needs to be better informed on an essential topic… Read More
"Let’s just get the verdict we want, and worry about the appeal later.” This statement – supposedly from legendary Arizona trial lawyer and politician Mo Udall – has been repeatedly made by “trial lawyers”. This approach makes “appellate lawyers” shudder.… Read More
Doctor Ken Kizer, the former CEO of the National Quality Forum (NQF), coined the term "Never Event" in 2001 to categorize reference to particularly shocking medical errors that should never occur. The seminal example would be performing an unnecessary surgery on… Read More
Recent statistics show that just over one-third of households in the United States (36.5%) own a dog. Arizona, however, has the highest percentage of dog owners with almost half (47.9%) of homeowners in this state owning a dog. Most of… Read More
Debates, rallies, and town halls are taking place all across the United States as we near our country’s 58th quadrennial U.S. presidential election on November 8. These presentations provide a great opportunity to identify and learn effective persuasion techniques that… Read More
Every “baby” litigator is taught, or at least should be taught, early in their career, to “preserve the record” in case there is an appeal. This is because appellate review--- absent extraordinary circumstances such as the very rarely found “fundamental… Read More
"Be quick but don’t hurry.” This famous amalgamation of seemingly inconsistent concepts by legendary college basketball coach John Wooden applies to actions that lawyers must make after the trial court makes a dispositive ruling. Lawyers must be “quick” to strictly… Read More