Moe Levine has been called "the Shakespeare of trial advocacy." His methods of trying cases serve as a foundation for many of today's finest plaintiff's lawyers.
One of the most important trial lawyers of the twentieth century, Levine tried thousands of jury trials in multiple states. He was a leader in expanding tort law and setting medical standards of care throughout the country. He was ahead of his time in considering the intersection of law and medicine.
This book is the result of a cooperative effort between Trial Guides and the American Association for Justice. Most of the material in this book comes from Moe Levine's lectures at national legal conventions between the 1940s and 1970s, and much of the content has never before been published.
The book also contains a series of legal articles written by Levine from the 1950s through the 1970s that have never been made available in any book up until this time.
Rick Friedman, one of the United States' leading trial lawyers, provides the foreword to this book, describing the importance of Levine's trial concepts on today's leading lawyers.
- Publisher's Note
- Foreword by Rick Friedman
- Essays in Mental Persuasion
- Morality and the Advocate
- The Art of Persuasion
- Limitations of "Objective" Tests
- The Art of Voir Dire: Selecting a Jury
- Jury Conditioning in Voir Dire and Opening Statement
- Persuading the Jury Using the "Whole Man" Concept
- Direct Examination and Cross-Examination
- Engaging the Jury in Direct Examination
- Cross-Examination of the Defendant's Medical Expert
- Panel Discussion: Trial Proof and Summation on Damages
- Panel Discussion: Medical-Legal Aspects of "Stress" Theory
- Summation: Medical Malpractice Case
- Summation: Loss of Marital Relationship
- Excerpts from Moe Levine: The Lost Recordings
- About the Author
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What Legal Leaders Are Saying
— Brian Panish, member of the Inner Circle of Advocates, American College of Trial Lawyers, and American Board of Trial Advocates, 2010 California ABOTA Trial Lawyer of the Year, and lead counsel in the largest personal injury and product liability verdict in U.S. judicial history ($4.9 billion)The works of Moe Levine never get old. I only wish I had been able to meet him. Moe’s work has been invaluable in helping me obtain record verdicts in many venues. I have used and will continue to use many of his arguments with great success, including the ‘whole man’ theory. I cannot read enough about this great trial lawyer whose works always withstand the test of time.
— Paul Luvera, member and past president of the Inner Circle of Advocates, member of the American College of Trial Lawyers and the International Academy of Trial LawyersMoe Levine’s great trial skill is legendary, and his teaching of advocacy is memorable. This book provides insight into Moe’s remarkable trial wisdom and should be required reading for every trial lawyer.
— Randi McGinn, listed in Best Lawyers in America, member of the Inner Circle of AdvocatesThis book is like a master class from beyond the grave from one of the country’s all-time best trial lawyers and communicators. Every page has a pearl of wisdom you can use in your next trial.
— Roxanne Barton Conlin, past president of the American Association for Justice, the Civil Justice Foundation, and the Roscoe Pound Foundation, member of the Inner Circle of Advocates and the International Academy of Trial LawyersThere are very few truly great advocates, and Moe Levine may well have been the greatest. I never knew him, but I have learned from him most of what I know about representing plaintiffs before juries. Remarkably, our study of neuroscience and the structure of the brain and other modern scientific theories provide support for what this lawyer somehow knew and understood instinctively. This is a must-read for everyone who cares about doing your best for your client. That was what his life and his life’s work was all about.
— Russ Herman, past president the American Association for Justice, member of the American Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame, recipient of both the AAJ and ABA Champion of Justice Awards and the Federal Bar Professionalism Award, member ABOTA and International Academy of Trial LawyersMoe was the single plaintiff’s trial lawyer [who] had the greatest influence on generations which came after. Every closing argument delivered by Moe Levine remains as a treatise on persuasion.