Fundamentals of Trial Technique

The fourth edition of Fundamentals of Trial Technique provides readers with a comprehensive approach to trial preparation, presentation and strategy. Advocacy has been described as the 'art of persuasion', and this book gives the advocate the tools to prepare for and present the trial in the most persuasive way possible. In addition to covering both what to do and how to do it, th authors explain why it needs to be done.

This book is adapted from the tenth American edition of Thomas Mauet's Trial Techniques and Trials, however its focus is on the presentation of a trial in an Australian court. This new Australian edition has been fully revised to take into account changes in Australian evidence law and civil procedure. It includes new sections on the defence reply to the prosecution's opening address, the admissibility of computer-based conversations in examination-in-chief, how to deal with common problems encountered when making, or responding to, an objection, and the ethical rules relating to discussions with a judge outside the court. Each phase of the trial is addressed, including effective trial preparation, jury selection and persuasion, opening and closing addresses, and the examination-in-chief and cross-examination of witnesses (including experts). It also covers the entry of exhibits, the use of visual aids, making and responding to objections, and trials and ethics and etiquette.

Fundamentals of Trial Technique, Fourth Australian edition, is a practical and effective guide to advocacy practice in Australian courts. It is essential reading for those who want to be persuasive advocates, be they a novice or experienced practitioner.