Miles B. Cooper

The defense lawyer, calm and friendly through the trial, got to the podium after we finished closing. His turn. He set his notes down. I noticed his hands clench the podium sides, knuckles whitening. He began, angry, wandered away from the podium, and ignored his notes. For the next 15 minutes, he spoke with furious anger. We dared say his...

The defendant’s key witness, who said in a police report that our client had crossed the street during a red light, disappeared into the ether before a deposition was ever taken. Our client said green. The defendant said red. A classic red light/green light case with the added joy of a problem witness. But absent a live witness, the statement...

Today, a horseman teaches us about cross-examination. Some time ago, I took a course on communication that focused on horses. I’m not a horse person, nor do I aim to be one. So why horses, one might ask? As I learned, horses are herd animals, prone to flight when startled. They look to you as a leader and notice changes...

A friend of ours, in the not too distant past, put out a job offer. He narrowed it down to the final two, after interviews. His first pick? A young woman, we’ll call her Ms. Smith, whose legal experience put her in the lead. He then did what many people these days do. He plugged the names of the final...

Thunk! It arrived on my desk with the kind of weight that said, “I am a substantial pleading.” I looked up at my assistant, whose eyebrows and shoulders rose in a vaguely pitying, vaguely supportive way to remind me she was only the messenger. I looked down, flipped it open to the introduction and read the first sentence. Or more...

My partner and I were sitting in the hotel the night before trial. Across from us sat the defense lawyers for the forklift manufacturer and the company’s general counsel. Our client’s injuries stemmed from an incident where an Albertson’s employee, operating the manufacturer’s forklift, struck our client. The employee and Albertson’s said brake failure. The manufacturer said operator error. Because...

A few weeks ago I heard a noise from the bathroom. Our toilet kept running, ever so slightly, after getting flushed. I’ve addressed home plumbing problems before. I will readily acknowledge though I’m far better with a laptop than a pipe wrench. But I’m also a big, dumb male. This means I think I can do anything I put my...

We knew the case was tough. Taking on the employer in a tiny county is difficult. Our case made that look easy. The witnesses seemed to be going in well though. Granted, our client was hit with a couple (read significant) inconsistencies. But the defense lawyer’s approach—scorched earth—seemed to alienate a few members of the jury. Given the evidence, the...

I watched the exchange from down the hall. I wasn’t quite sure what was wrong – a missing exhibit, exam outline, witness, or the lead attorney’s favorite pen. Obviously the second seat had done something that the lead felt was an error. The muted acidity in his tone virtually stripped paint from the hallway wall. “That’s going to improve the...

Some time ago I was asked to help a lawyer with his first jury trial. He finished voir dire, opening, a cross-examination of a corporate witness under Evid. Code section 776. All were masterful, textbook. You could tell he practiced and studied. The next witness, late in the day, was a direct exam of a percipient. The defense lawyer, a...