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Fact Investigation: A Practical Guide to Interviewing, Counseling, and Case Theory Development, Second Edition

Authors
  • Paul J. Zwier
  • Anthony J. Bocchino
Series / NITA
Teaching Materials
NO
Description
In a successful litigation, it isn’t enough to know the facts. You must also know how to interpret and use those facts, and thoughtfully delving into the stories behind them is a crucial task if you hope to prevail for your client. Fact Investigation, by longtime NITA authors Paul Zwier and Anthony Bocchino, will change the way you approach cases for the rest of your career. Every litigator’s investigation begins where the “official” investigation ends. During informal fact investigation, you must know how to engage your client so he shares the facts and stories critical to his case, then use them not just to develop but to implement a winning case theory. How do you do that? It all starts with your first meeting with your clientand what you say and how you do it. Find out how your word choice and body language lay the groundwork for connecting with your client, and how to establish the openness and trust that yield what you need to build a compelling case and be a persuasive advocate. From that client information, the authors take you through the steps necessary to build and implement effective alternative case theories that will inform your fact investigation process and lay the foundation for efficient use of formal discovery devices. Zwier and Bocchino model these practice skills through four familiar NITA case files: Quinlan v. Kane Electronics (business/contract case), Brown v. Byrd (auto accident and personal injury case), State v. Lawrence (criminal robbery case), and United States ex rel. Rodriguez v. Hughes (False Claims Act case). When you see these techniques modeled as case studies, you understand how to integrate them into your overall case planning and learn how to confront the thorny ethics of day-to-day lawyering. The Second Edition is fully revised, with special emphasis on the impact of the proposed Federal Rules Civil Procedure changes, and features an important new chapter on e-discovery. Rare is now the case that doesn’t involve some form of electronic evidence, and every litigator must know the ever-expanding issues surrounding it. Find out how e-discovery strategies differ from plaintiff to defendant and how to manage your client’s competing rights to both speech and privacy in our highly discoverable online world. From explaining how to use your opposing party’s social media indiscretions against it to helping you make sense of new federal rules that limit the use of electronic evidence, Zwier and Bocchino tell you everything you must know about the impact of e-discovery on the modern litigation practice.
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About the authors
Anthony Bocchino
Jack E. Feinberg Professor of Litigation Emeritus
Temple University Beasley School of Law

Professor Anthony Bocchino is the Jack E. Feinberg Professor of Litigation Emeritus of the Temple University Beasley School of Law. He served as a full-time faculty member at both the University of Connecticut School of Law and the Duke University Law School before joining the Temple University Beasley School of Law faculty in 1979 and served for 10 years as the Director of Advocacy. He has designed the program, written materials, and taught in the law school’s Integrated Trial Advocacy Program, which has been twice awarded the Gumpert Award for Excellence in Teaching Trial Advocacy from the American College of Trial Lawyers, in addition to receiving the Gambrell Award for Teaching Professionalism from the American Bar Association.

Professor Bocchino has been honored with teaching awards from Duke University School of Law, where he received the Mordecai Society Award, and the Beasley School of Law, where he was the first recipient of the George P. Williams II Memorial Award. In addition, he has received the Oliphant Award from the National Institute for Trial Advocacy and the Richard S. Jacobson Award from the Association of Trial Lawyers of America for excellence in teaching the art and science of trial advocacy.

In addition to his law school duties, Professor Bocchino has an over 40-year relationship with NITA, and served as a faculty member, author, Editor in Chief, and Director. Bocchino has written materials and designed programs for trial, deposition, fact investigation, motion practice, and appellate advocacy programs for more than thirty law firms and numerous public agencies, including several projects for the Federal Judicial Center. He has also conducted needs analyses and designed litigation skill curricula for numerous law firms. His CLE materials and program designs are among the most frequently utilized by those organizations. In addition, he has and will customize materials to the specific needs of individual clients.

Professor Bocchino is the author of over sixty books and articles, predominantly in the fields of evidence, trial advocacy, civil litigation, and professional responsibility. His most recent book with David Sonenshein, entitled The Modern Deposition (Amazon 2017), has been evaluated as revolutionary and groundbreaking. His trial advocacy or deposition practice materials are used in a majority of the law schools in America, as well as in CLE litigation skills training in the public and private sectors.

Professor Bocchino is a member of the Order of the Coif, has been elected to the American Law Institute, and designated a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation; Litigation Counsel of America; and the International Society of Barristers.

Product Information
Edition
Second Edition
Publication date
2015-01-23
Copyright Year
2015
Pages
222
Paperback
9781601564351
Subject
Litigation
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