At the top of the list of things least likely to be heard following a CLE seminar is the phrase, “I had a rip-roaring good time.” CLE seminars are supposed to be educational, not entertaining! Even more perplexing was the topic of the class that inspired a Fulton County, Ga., legal journalist to pen her puzzling assessment: trial techniques.
A seminar on trial techniques equals a good time? Clearly, something does not add up. That’s because a key element is missing from the equation: attorney Todd Winegar. Winegar is a nationally known speaker and practicing litigator who’s taught CLE programs across the country. Throughout 30 years of civil trial experience, his practice has involved him in some of the largest cases in his home state of Utah, including a Minuteman missile accident case and another trial that ended in an $8.1 million plaintiff verdict. Winegar draws examples from these experiences as well as the 20th Century’s top trials to present what he says are “thought-provoking yet practical seminars.”
Chattanooga attorneys will have an opportunity to receive tutelage from Winegar when he hosts a CLE seminar titled “Trials of the Century Part 1” on October 26 at the Walden Club on Chestnut Street. Those in attendance will receive one dual and five general CLE hours. The cost is $225 for Chattanooga Bar Association members, $300 for non-members and $60 for legal support staff. The day will begin at 8 a.m. with breakfast and registration, and conclude at 4 p.m. Lunch at the Walden Club will be available at the expense of the registrant.
Winegar uses actual film footage, re-creations and verbatim transcripts to bring his audience a unique educational program. When no film of a trial exists, he uses dramatizations together with original photos, allowing those in attendance to learn not only from him, but also from the masters. “I discuss the popular Scopes monkey trial during the seminar. I have footage of the trial, but it was filmed before the talkies, so there’s no sound. I had actors re-create the cross-examination of William Jennings Brown by Clarence Darrow and then added the re-created audio to give the audience a sense of being there,” Winegar says. The cross-examination in the Scopes trial teaches the importance of establishing a theme for a cross-examination and then asking questions that support the theme, Winegar adds.
Winegar will also delve into the Lindberg kidnapping trial to examine the ethics of Rambo litigation tactics, show Associate U.S. Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson sparring with Marshall Goring of the Hitler regime in the Nuremberg Trials to open the door to a discussion about dealing with difficult witnesses, and highlight his favorite arguments from the Clinton impeachment. He’ll also review the Alger Hiss trial, which he says might have had more impact on America than any other trial of the last century, to look at the ethics of dealing with difficult attorneys.
“The Hiss trial set the stage of McCarthyism and created a distrust of government and Eastern elites that still exists today. The trial put freshman Congressman Richard Nixon on the national stage. It was also one of the factors that converted Ronald Reagan from a Democrat to a Republican. Was Hiss even guilty? It’s been debated for half a century,” Winegar says. Each registrant will also receive the “Trials of the Century” notebook and “The Ultimate Trial Notebook,” which are not available for separate purchase. The latter is a binder of checklists and nuggets of advice attorneys can use every time they appear in court or write a memorandum. Section titles include “Opening Statement,” “Pre-trial Checklist,” “Witness Preparation,” “Closing Argument,” “Cross Examination,” “Direct Examination,” “Trial Forms” and more.
Winegar started compiling “The Ultimate Trial Notebook” in law school, when one of his professors told him trials are so complex, no one can keep everything in mind, yet that is what attorneys have to do when they stand up in a courtroom. “He recommended we start a trial notebook to record the lessons we learned about trials in brief form so we could review it before our next trial. Over my career, I’ve tried a lot of cases and learned a lot of lessons. I wrote those lessons down and then reviewed them before my next trial. The result was my ‘Ultimate Trial Notebook.’ It can help other attorneys learn from my experiences and the experiences of others before me,” Winegar says.
According to the Fulton County Daily Report, Winegar is also a good showman with an eye for legal humor (he discusses the number of times an attorney can use the word “a–hole” in a deposition) and historical oddities (he reveals that hundreds of chimps and their owners attended the Scopes trial). But there’s always a lesson behind his humor. “His knack for dissecting cases ranging from the Leopold and Loeb murder trial of the 1920s to the O.J. Simpson media circus of the 1990s is more than entertainment. It’s darn good instruction for anyone who wants to hone his courtroom craft,” wrote the Daily Record writer.
Winegar says that while attorneys find his seminar interesting, doctors, dentists, psychologists and other professionals have attended solely out of interest in the drama of the historic trials. “The main purpose of the seminar is to educate attorneys on trial techniques. Other goals are to teach attorneys about the history of the law, to inspire us to create justice today and to entertain.” It sounds like a rip-roaring good time.
To register online using Visa or MasterCard, visit the Chattanooga Bar Association Web site at www.chattbar.org. The Bar has scheduled several more CLE seminars this fall. The Hamilton County Herald is a sponsor of each one.