Advanced Trial Skills
Course Summary
Our flagship program, this is a cannot-miss, intensive trial-skills class infusing storytelling techniques in all aspects of trial advocacy. Ideal for lawyers at all skill and experience levels, Advanced Trial Skills incorporates performance-based training techniques used by the National Institute for Trial Advocacy in the United States and the Hampel Method in the UK and Australia. But that traditional, effective teaching method is enhanced by the cutting-edge storytelling techniques taught at Narrative Edge. Advanced Trial Skills is a more efficient program and designed to improve participants’ ability to tell compelling, effective stories in all aspects of trial, which is the key to effective trial lawyering.
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The Narrative Edge Curriculum
Our Advanced Trial Skills course is designed to refine and elevate your courtroom techniques, with a curriculum covering the essential elements.
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Opening Statements
Achieving buy in; the fundamentals of storytelling; connecting with an audience; the big mistake.
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Direct Examination
Making the witness the star through the Oprah technique; proper structure; use of visuals.
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Cross Examination
Exercising control; storytelling on cross; achieving proper payoff.
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Closing Argument
Punishing mistakes; dealing with the bad stuff; giving your jurors the ammunition they need.
Why Narrative Edge? Let us Persuade You
Exceedingly Efficient
For attorneys, whether it’s a deposition, opening statement, closing argument, or cross examination, engagement matters – and the tools to make that happen vary widely from one case, one witness, to the next. What doesn’t change is how vital it is to connect deeply with every audience all the time. The Narrative Edge teaches the techniques to ensure that happens. Facts and figures can be transactional, forgettable; a good story is strategic and memorable.
Gratifying Results
Our faculty members, following the example set by our founding director, are routinely lauded by judges and even opposing counsel for their abilities to distill even the most complex cases into compelling and embraceable narratives. “One of the best closing arguments I’ve seen in 40 years,” said one now-retired federal court judge. “Your ability to keep control of the witness while also telling a story was something I don’t think I’ve seen anybody else do,” said a Superior Court judge. The testimonials are as significant as they are validating of the Narrative Edge approach.
Collaborative
These techniques are as effective in the court room as they are in the board room. Persuasion isn’t merely about changing minds; it can be about sealing deals, making sales, recruiting talent, addressing regulatory issues and oversight, elevating brands, adjusting narratives and establishing thought leadership. We teach the art, tactics and strategy of effective storytelling blended with trial-lawyering techniques to create a holistic, integrated methodology of persuasion and advocacy.
The Process
Participants will execute all aspects of a trial presentation (opening, direct examination, cross examination, and closing) in small groups. Each exercise will be a short segment (usually seven to ten minutes), and participants will get real-time critique and advice from the instructor to enhance their technique. Through this process, participants will be able to refine their skills multiple times throughout each day of the program. These training sessions will eventually lead up to a mock trial which will be held on the last day of the course.
Who Will Benefit?
The program is intended for lawyers of all experience levels.
Lawyers with no trial experience will be trained on all major trial tasks. Experienced lawyers will learn higher-level skills to help take their advocacy from good to great.
The course director, Chris Arledge, has taught trial advocacy around the country and around the world. He is the author of the book To Prove, To Please, To Move: Timeless Principles of Legal Advocacy and has been on the faculty for the National Institute for Trial Advocacy, the Advanced Advocacy program in Dublin, Ireland and the Advanced International Advocacy Course at Oxford University to barristers with more than 25 years’ experience.