December 2004 - #4. Examining Witnesses, Michael E. Tigar. American Bar Association, 2d ed. 2003, 491 pp., $110.00.

Vermont Bar Journal

2004.

December 2004 - #4.

Examining Witnesses, Michael E. Tigar. American Bar Association, 2d ed. 2003, 491 pp., $110.00

Vermont Bar Journal - December 2004

Examining Witnesses, Michael E. Tigar. American Bar Association, 2d ed. 2003, 491 pp., $110.00

Reviewed by Michael H. Lipson, Esq.

Have you tried many cases? Have you tried only a few? None, but anticipate that you will during your career? An affirmative answer to any of these questions should prompt your acquisition of this marvelous book, which deals with the core business of trials - properly and effectively eliciting testimony from witnesses.

Mike Tigar is a brilliant trial lawyer and teacher. He learned "at the knee" of the late Edward Bennett Williams, one of the nation's legendary trial lawyers (not to mention, an owner of the Washington Redskins). Tigar has been involved in many noteworthy cases, with such notable clients as Angela Davis; the Chicago Seven; former Texas governor, John Connally; and accused Nazi war criminal, John Demjanjuk. Perhaps none of his cases has had higher visibility than his defense of Terry Nichols, being tried as a co-conspirator of Timothy McVeigh's, the alreadyconvicted bomber of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. Tigar has put forth an extremely well-organized, thoughtful, helpful and entertaining book on dealing with witnesses.

The book begins with an extensive discussion of the theory of the case, in which the author lays out a framework usable in every trial: in essence, in addition to analogizing a trial to the preparation of a project for which one must decide in advance on what materials (witnesses and tangible evidence), tools (arguments, questions), and techniques (leading questions, discourse styles) a lawyer will use. Tigar uses vivid phrases to provide important insights critical to good witness examination. The most important of these are that deciders perceive whole stories; that the way you tell the story makes all the difference; and that you must keep reminding the triers of fact (and yourself) of the course towards which you are navigating - that is, the result you wish them to reach. Finally, he reminds us that a lawyer's failure to try to identify with and understand jurors' life experiences as they may impact on decision-making involving their clients can be fatal...

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