Creating a Trial Notebook (2022 Edition)

Dan Shulman
Dan Shulman | Shulman & Buske PLLC and ACLU Minnesota

Dan Shulman has been a practicing trial lawyer for more than 50 years. After 50 years of specializing in complex commercial and civil rights litigation, he left the large firm he had been with to join the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota as a Staff Attorney and took a position Of Counsel with his son’s Minneapolis law firm, Shulman & Buske PLLC. He was admitted to practice in Minnesota in 1970 and has tried lawsuits in state and federal courts in Minnesota and numerous other states.

On-Demand: June 3, 2022

$195.00 1.5 hour CLE

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Program Summary

Every experienced trial lawyer tries a case with a trial notebook. The essence of a good trial notebook is putting together everything you need to try your case in one place. This program will tell you how to do this: how to prepare and use a trial notebook, both hard copy and electronic, including what goes into each and what doesn’t. You will learn how to prepare a trial notebook that will take you from pre-trial to judgment, starting with pre-trial orders and filings and proceeding through jury voir dire, opening statement, direct and cross-examination, expert testimony, exhibits, closing argument, and jury instructions and verdict form.

This course is co-sponsored with myLawCLE.

Key topics to be discussed:

  • Preparing your voir dire examinations
  • Organizing direct examination
  • Setting up effective cross-examination
  • Organizing and getting exhibits into evidence
  • Getting ready for closing argument

Date: July 19, 2022

Closed-captioning available

Speakers

Dan Shulman_Shulman & Buske_myLawCLEDan Shulman | Shulman & Buske PLLC and ACLU Minnesota

Dan Shulman has been a practicing trial lawyer for more than 50 years. After 50 years of specializing in complex commercial and civil rights litigation, he left the large firm he had been with to join the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota as a Staff Attorney and took a position Of Counsel with his son’s Minneapolis law firm, Shulman & Buske PLLC. He was admitted to practice in Minnesota in 1970 and has tried lawsuits in state and federal courts in Minnesota and numerous other states. He is a member of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers and the American College of Trial Lawyers. Dan is also a Fellow Emeritus of the Litigation Counsel of America. He was named a Minnesota Lawyer of the Year for 2012 and 2018. In 2021 Dan was included in The Best Lawyers in America in the categories of Antitrust Law, Bet-the-Company Litigation, and Commercial Litigation. Dan obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree cum laude from Harvard College (1965), a Master’s Degree in English Literature from Yale University (1967), and a Juris Doctor degree with honors from Harvard Law School (1970).

Agenda

I. Crystalizing the case theme and trial strategy | 2:00 pm – 2:09 pm
II. Cutting Out Clutter: what to include and what to exclude | 2:09 pm – 2: 18 pm
III. Voir dire and beyond: developing key sections | 2:18 pm – 2:27 pm
IV. The heart of the notebook: witnesses and exhibits | 2:27 pm – 2:36 pm
V. Highlighting and flagging key portions | 2:36 pm – 2:45 pm
VI. Organizing the notebook – what works best | 2:45 pm – 2:54 pm
VII. Electronic trial notebooks | 2:54 pm – 3:00 pm

Break | 3:00 pm – 3:10 pm

VIII. Pointers on working with support staff | 3:10 pm – 3:20 pm
IX. Tips to make your trial notebooks more effective (and mistakes to avoid) | 3:20 pm – 3:30 pm
X. Using the notebook and troubleshooting from the courtroom | 3:30 pm – 3:40 pm