“[T]he oral examination of witnesses before the court, with a stringent cross-examination by skillful counsel, is almost the only method of eliciting truth ….”–Justice Robert C. Grier
Effective trial advocacy requires trust. You want the judge to trust your evidence and to feel how unreliable your opponent’s evidence is. To conduct an effective cross-examination:
1. Keep in mind your basic objectives in crossing the witness.
2. Get to the point and get out.
3. Ask short, leading questions with plain words and listen to the answers.
4. Don’t let the witness repeat his or her story.
5. Create an impression of unreliability that the judge will remember long after the witness is gone.