pozner and dodd

God bless 'em, they have a website now, although close inspection suggests that this is simply a component site of the Borg. I learned more about the effective presentation of evidence from these gents' book, cassette tapes, and video seminar than I learned in three years at an Ivy League law school. This probably makes me the closest thing to a Pozner and Dodd groupie that they will ever have.

Such is my enthusiasm for them that I bought the new edition of their book as soon as it came out, even though they appear to have only the vaguest idea of how computers could be used to aid in the mastery of the evidence that is at the heart of their method. Computers in litigation aren't just about scanning a gazillion documents in some mondo class action lawsuit or something. I've got an outlining function in my practice management tools that is extremely handy for linking lists to sublists, which is what "page" preparation for the "chapter" method is all about.

Moreover, with the price of technology plummeting, I don't think scanning your discovery is just for the big boys now. I am handling a case now with about five thousand pages of financial documentation, not horrendously complex, but filling three banker's boxes. It's a pain to be digging through all the time as I get ready for trial. These docs were also copied and Bates-numbered in the order in which the client maintained them, which was not, you understand, a logical order. But that's another rant for another day. Sigh.

Okay, okay, I know the links above don't really describe page preparation and the chapter method. A "page" is a line of questions with the admission of a single fact as their goal. A "chapter" is a series of pages, that is, facts, that make a single point. Just go read the book. I can't do it justice unless I retype the whole damn thing here, and this is a book that is worth study. Even if they use their computers as paperweights.