Most Helpful Customer Reviews
|
|
27 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Helpful stuff, but not user friendly, November 24, 2000
The best thing about this book is its attempt to systematize the difficult and too-often mysticised craft of cross-examination. The worst thing about it is that the authors did not apply the level of thinking that they advocate for cross-examination to the design and content of the book, which is poorly organized, diffuse, and a general nuisance to deal with because of its pervasive shapelessness. It's well worth dealing with the demands of the book because it is the best thought-out discussion of cross-examination in print. ...if you can figure out what the authors are trying to say about how to organize a cross and get through their Rube Goldberg "system" of chapters and rules and topic cards and sequence-of-events charts and page preparations -- I eventually gave up on their explanations and started outlining the book in my own way, upon which the sloppy, ill-considered form stopped mattering and the book's powerful insights into the whole process became comprehensible. Ultimately, examining witnesses at trial is about understanding, eliciting, and explaining facts to people who have to decide where truth lies (so to speak). The authors here give more information about how to do this in more ways than anyone else. If you want to "get" what's in this book, you will have to work hard and deal with stupid obstacles to learning and recurrent barriers to clear communication. Get over it. That's a large part about what getting ready to deal with witnesses at trial is all about anyway. Might as well get the practice in a safe environment. The book seems to be written from the perspective of a primarily criminal-law oriented practice in a jurisidiction in which the lawyers have access to basically all the information that will be presented at trial. To me, a civil practice New York lawyer, that seems about as real as the Star Wars movies, but there's still a lot of value here. If you are new to this area of the law, this book is the best way to get a sense of what you can do with cross (at least until I write my book on the subject :-)) If you are experienced, it will give you ways to fine-tune your knowledge and skills. Either way, it will give you good training in patience and delayed gratification -- essential skills for a trial lawyer. If I got to break my rating down, I would give the book a (generous) two stars for accessibilty and a (conservative) five stars for concepts and information.
|
|
|
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Complete but Complex Critique, November 12, 2001
Pozner & Dodd present a very well-organized protocol for conducting cross examinations. The core of their advice is perfectly sound. I highly recommend reading chapters 3 ("Developing a Theory"), 9 ("The Chapter Method"), 10 ("Page Preparation"), 11 ("Sequences"), 12 ("Only Three Rules"), 17 ("Loops"), and 18 ("Trilogies").Other chapters include useful information, but the authors unnecessarily complicate the practice of cross examination. Few practitioners would have the necessary time to devote to preparing cross examinations as Pozner and Dodd recommend. The book contains a highly detailed table of contents. You can almost get the full benefit of the book by studying the table of contents.
|
|
|
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Bible of Cross-Examination, January 11, 2001
I found Pozner and Dodd's book the best money I've spent since graduating law school. As a criminal defense practicioner, I live and die with cross. The preparation and presentation skills taught in this book work wonders in the courtroom. The first case I tried after reading this book not only resulted in an acquital based purely upon my cross, but the judge congratulated me later by saying "great cross." Believe me, the price tag is the best money you'll spend.
|
|
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews
|
by Robert Klonoff and Paul Colby
by Francis L. Wellman
by Moe Levine
