McElhaney's Trial Notebook

by James W. McElhaney

Trial Notebook offers hundreds of techniques and tactics for every stage of a trial's progress in spare, lively, memorable prose. You get strategies grounded in actual courtroom experience that will improve the effectiveness of your advocacy.

Genres: Law, Legal, Professional Development

711 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1987

Reviews

[Lindy Kolb]

I got this book at the recommendation of a couple colleagues when I started doing trial work. It provided a very useful overview of each part of the trial prep process and the trial itself. It is more geared towards civil litigation but, I could easily adapt a lot of it to criminal litigation. Law school did very little to prepare me for actually being in court so I was glad there are resources like this so I didn't go in totally blind. It can be a little dense at points but, that describes pretty much every book for lawyers. I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone who wants to do litigation, civil or criminal.

[Patrick]

After not practicing for a few years, I took a job as an attorney that was litigation heavy. I found this book and I'm glad that I did. This is a great resource to learn about all the things they don't teach you at law school, and it's invaluable to the practicing litigator. Most of the book focuses on the federal rules, so it won't help in your specific state jurisdiction, but it still contains a ton of gems dealing with evidence, trial prep, examinations, etc. I would recommend this book to any new or old attorney who wants to become a top notch litigator.

[Ktbird]

Helpful primer for new lawyers. There is so much to think about, but the examples within this text are hugely practical and relatable. Wish I'd read this sooner.

[Justin Bernstein]

This author is very thoughtful and manages to give both practical details and theoretical justifications.