The Art of Cross Examination, 4th Edition

Description

As the modern methods of practicing the law profession have had a tendency to discourage court oratory and the development of orators, The Art of Cross Examination seeks to bring back the great oratory skills of the past to lawyers everywhere.

With our modern jurymen the arts of oratory,—”law papers on fire,” as Lord Brougham’s speeches used to be called,—though still enjoyed as impassioned literary efforts, have become almost useless as persuasive arguments or as a “summing up” as they are now called. But not anymore.

Overview

1903. With the cross-examinations of important witnesses in some celebrated cases. Wellman, one of the great nineteenth-century trial lawyers, made his reputation in the musty New York courtrooms of the 1880s and 1890s as assistant corporation counsel and assistant district attorney. In this volume, he draws upon his own experiences and the brilliant achievements of other noted lawyers to explain and exemplify the principles of questioning. He quotes extensively from many memorable cases, utilizing them to illustrate both the manner and matter of cross-examination. He takes up the handling of the perjured witness and the expert, he underscores the importance of sequence, and he offers many insights into the psychology of the witness; showing that knowing when to elicit information, and when not to, is critical to the artistry of the advocate.