Law.com Subscribers SAVE 30%
Call 855-808-4530 or email [email protected] to receive your discount on a new subscription.
Leading Questions and Child Witnesses
Lawyers involved in product liability cases are occasionally involved with child witnesses, either as plaintiffs or as percipient witnesses to the critical events in the lawsuit. As in other types of litigation, child witnesses present a number of difficult challenges in product liability cases.
Courts often allow leading questions of child witnesses on the theory that children need additional assistance while testifying at trial. Although the child witness is a long-recognized exception to the rule against leading questions, there is a considerable amount of recent scientific evidence suggesting that children should not be asked leading questions, either during investigatory interviews or during trial testimony. Contrary to the theories underlying the evidentiary rules, scientific research shows that the reliability of a child's testimony is much more complicated than simply determining whether a child knows the difference between lying and telling the truth. Children may be unable to encode information and form a memory, may not be able to communicate a memory accurately, or may be easily misled by questions that suggest an answer. Moreover, a young child's understanding of the truth may be distorted through coaching or suggestion, causing the child to believe that what he is saying is the truth when, in fact, the truth has been obscured.
The DOJ's Corporate Enforcement Policy: One Year Later
The DOJ's Criminal Division issued three declinations since the issuance of the revised CEP a year ago. Review of these cases gives insight into DOJ's implementation of the new policy in practice.
The DOJ's New Parameters for Evaluating Corporate Compliance Programs
The parameters set forth in the DOJ's memorandum have implications not only for the government's evaluation of compliance programs in the context of criminal charging decisions, but also for how defense counsel structure their conference-room advocacy seeking declinations or lesser sanctions in both criminal and civil investigations.
Use of Deferred Prosecution Agreements In White Collar Investigations
This article discusses the practical and policy reasons for the use of DPAs and NPAs in white-collar criminal investigations, and considers the NDAA's new reporting provision and its relationship with other efforts to enhance transparency in DOJ decision-making.
A Lawyer's System for Active Reading
Active reading comprises many daily tasks lawyers engage in, including highlighting, annotating, note taking, comparing and searching texts. It demands more than flipping or turning pages.
Bankruptcy Sales: Finding a Diamond In the Rough
There is no efficient market for the sale of bankruptcy assets. Inefficient markets yield a transactional drag, potentially dampening the ability of debtors and trustees to maximize value for creditors. This article identifies ways in which investors may more easily discover bankruptcy asset sales.