Evidence and the Litigation Process PDF Download

Author: Jeffrey Pinsler
Publisher:
ISBN: 9789814608657
Category : Evidence (Law)
Languages : en
Pages : 1171

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Author: Michael J. Saks
Publisher: NYU Press
ISBN: 0814783872
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 339

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Book Description
Identifies and evaluates the psychological choices implicit in the rules of evidence Evidence law is meant to facilitate trials that are fair, accurate, and efficient, and that encourage and protect important societal values and relationships. In pursuit of these often-conflicting goals, common law judges and modern drafting committees have had to perform as amateur applied psychologists. Their task has required them to employ what they think they know about the ability and motivations of witnesses to perceive, store, and retrieve information; about the effects of the litigation process on testimony and other evidence; and about our capacity to comprehend and evaluate evidence. These are the same phenomena that cognitive and social psychologists systematically study. The rules of evidence have evolved to restrain lawyers from using the most robust weapons of influence, and to direct judges to exclude certain categories of information, limit it, or instruct juries on how to think about it. Evidence law regulates the form of questions lawyers may ask, filters expert testimony, requires witnesses to take oaths, and aims to give lawyers and factfinders the tools they need to assess witnesses’ reliability. But without a thorough grounding in psychology, is the “common sense” of the rulemakers as they create these rules always, or even usually, correct? And when it is not, how can the rules be fixed? Addressed to those in both law and psychology, The Psychological Foundations of Evidence Law draws on the best current psychological research-based knowledge to identify and evaluate the choices implicit in the rules of evidence, and to suggest alternatives that psychology reveals as better for accomplishing the law’s goals.

Author: Jeffrey Waincymer
Publisher: Kluwer Law International B.V.
ISBN: 9041140670
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 1363

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Book Description
Central to the book’s purpose is the procedural challenge facing arbitrators at each and every stage of the arbitral process when fairness arguments conflict with efficiency concerns and trade-offs must be determined. Some key themes include how can a tribunal be fair, and in particular be neutral, if parties are so diverse? How can arbitration be made efficient and cost-effective without undue inroads into fairness and accuracy? How does a tribunal do what is best if the parties are choosing a suboptimal process? When can or must an arbitrator ignore procedural choices made by the parties? The author thoroughly evaluates competing arguments and adds his own practical tips, expertly synthesizing and engaging with the conference literature and differing authors’ views. He identifies criteria that offer a harmonized approach to each stage of the arbitral process, with particular attention to such aspects of international arbitration as: appropriate trade-offs between flexibility and certainty; the rights, duties and powers of arbitrators; appointment and challenge of arbitrators; responses to ‘guerilla’ tactics; drafting of arbitration agreements, including specialty clauses; drafting of required commencement notices and response documents; set-off; fast track arbitration and other efficiency options; strategic use of preliminary conferences and timetabling; online arbitration; multi-party, multi-contract, class arbitration; amicus and third party funders; pre-arbitral referees and interim relief; witness evidence, both factual and expert; documentary evidence, production obligations, and challenges to production; identifying applicable law; and remedies and costs.

Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309142393
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 348

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Book Description
Scores of talented and dedicated people serve the forensic science community, performing vitally important work. However, they are often constrained by lack of adequate resources, sound policies, and national support. It is clear that change and advancements, both systematic and scientific, are needed in a number of forensic science disciplines to ensure the reliability of work, establish enforceable standards, and promote best practices with consistent application. Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: A Path Forward provides a detailed plan for addressing these needs and suggests the creation of a new government entity, the National Institute of Forensic Science, to establish and enforce standards within the forensic science community. The benefits of improving and regulating the forensic science disciplines are clear: assisting law enforcement officials, enhancing homeland security, and reducing the risk of wrongful conviction and exoneration. Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States gives a full account of what is needed to advance the forensic science disciplines, including upgrading of systems and organizational structures, better training, widespread adoption of uniform and enforceable best practices, and mandatory certification and accreditation programs. While this book provides an essential call-to-action for congress and policy makers, it also serves as a vital tool for law enforcement agencies, criminal prosecutors and attorneys, and forensic science educators.

Author: United States. Department of Justice
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Justice, Administration of
Languages : en
Pages : 720

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Author: American Bar Association. House of Delegates
Publisher: American Bar Association
ISBN: 9781590318737
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 216

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Book Description
The Model Rules of Professional Conduct provides an up-to-date resource for information on legal ethics. Federal, state and local courts in all jurisdictions look to the Rules for guidance in solving lawyer malpractice cases, disciplinary actions, disqualification issues, sanctions questions and much more. In this volume, black-letter Rules of Professional Conduct are followed by numbered Comments that explain each Rule's purpose and provide suggestions for its practical application. The Rules will help you identify proper conduct in a variety of given situations, review those instances where discretionary action is possible, and define the nature of the relationship between you and your clients, colleagues and the courts.

Author: C. H. van Rhee
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781780683386
Category : Civil procedure
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Since the start of the new millennium, many contemporary legal jurisdictions have been revisiting the fundamental principles of their civil procedures. Even the core areas of the civil process are not left untouched, including the way in which evidence is introduced, collected, and presented in court. In the field of evidence taking, one generator of the reforms has been slow and inefficient litigation. Both in Europe and globally, reaching a balance between the demands of factual accuracy and the need to adjudicate disputes in a swift, cost-effective, and efficient way is still one of the key challenges. Another reason why many countries are reforming their law of evidence is related to cultural and technological changes in modern societies. Traditional human rights (such as the right to privacy and due process) is shifting. The modern need for security, efficiency, and quick access to justice, along with the perception of what is admissible or not in the context of evidence taking, is changing as well. In the same sense, the fast pace of modern life commands different practices of fact-finding, accompanied by new methods of selection of evidence that are appropriate for this purpose. Last but not least, the overwhelming penetration of new technologies into all spheres of public and private life has the capacity to dramatically change the methods of the collection and presentation of evidence. Exploring these issues, contributors to this book reflect on how these trends affect the situation in their countries and present their views on further developments, both nationally and in comparison with the developments in other countries and regions. A further goal is to inquire whether, in spite of national differences that are still dominant, the approaches to civil evidence are converging, and whether reforms affecting fact-finding have a chance of leading to some forms of harmonization. (Series: Ius Commuen Europaeum - Vol. 139) Subject: Legal Procedure, Civil Law, Comparative Law]

Author: Steven N. Peskind
Publisher: American Bar Association
ISBN: 9781627220033
Category : Domestic relations
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
At the core of being a trial lawyer is a working knowledge of the rules of evidence: how to get evidence admitted or kept out in a contested trial or hearing. Procedures to authenticate exhibits are the building blocks of any case, and objections and their responses are the mortar. The Family Law Trial Evidence Handbook is a common sense guide to these fundamentals. Based upon the author's years of family law practice and from his teaching experience at the ABA Family Law Trial Advocacy Institute, this handbook is organized in a practical format that can work for all family law trial lawyers, regardless of whether they practice in a state that uses a variation on the Federal Rules or a common law body of rules on evidence. It combines the substantive knowledge critical to assist family lawyers understand the concepts and theories of evidence with a supremely useful format that ensures that the necessary information can be located and absorbed quickly. Topics include: The fundamentals of evidence Relevance Evidence of character and habit Hearsay and hearsay exceptions Judicial notice and presumptions Authentication of writings and other tangible evidence Original writing rule and the rule of completeness Competency of witnesses Evidentiary privileges Expert witnesses Examination of witnesses Tendering exhibits, objections, and offers of proof Procedures for streamlining admission of evidence Requests to admit facts and genuineness of documents Judges identify lawyers who can try cases well and appreciate their skill, and good settlements come from superior trial skills. It is axiomatic, but knowledge is power. This book is the starting point for lawyers pursuing excellence in divorce trial advocacy.

Author: Paul C. Giannelli
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 800

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Author: Paul Rothstein
Publisher: West Academic Publishing
ISBN: 9781647085681
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 800

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Book Description
The newest version of the Federal Rules of Evidence, reproduced in the appendix, are the anchor of this single-volume Nutshell, with some state variations noted where important. The text summarizes significant U.S. Supreme Court decisions, including the latest Confrontation Clause cases; additional leading cases; forefront expert and scientific evidence developments; and principal schools of evidentiary thought. It includes practical implementation as well as scholarly approaches, and pays attention to the litigation process as a whole and interdisciplinary cross-pollination where helpful.