Preparing Your Client for Direct-Examination

In this one-hour program, Keith Belzer will explain the benefits of putting your client on the stand for direct-examination.  You will learn strategies for how to make your direct the winning aspect of the trial by portraying your client in a sympathetic manner to the jury.  Mr. Belzer emphasizes demonstrating the strength of your relationship with the client in order to establish trust with the jury.  Do you worry about how to question your client?  Should you use well-rehearsed questions in chronological order? Or have a more natural conversational flow?  This webcast will give you practical answers to these questions and more by giving you best-practice approaches to questioning and preparing your client.  If you have ever hesitated to put your client on the stand then you must watch this webcast to learn why it is one of the most valuable trial tactics.

Keith Belzer is a nationally recognized lecturer and teacher on criminal defense issues, trial techniques and strategies. In addition to his position on the faculty at the National Criminal Defense College in Macon, Georgia, and the Wisconsin Trial Skills Academy, Mr. Belzer has lectured or taught for over 50 criminal defense groups or conferences. He has presented to the Israeli National Public Defender, the Puerto Rican CJA Panel and The People’s Republic of China, where Mr. Belzer was the keynote speaker at the first public defender regional training ever held in China. Mr. Belzer has been named a Super Lawyer by his peers every year since its inception in 2005. In 2006 Mr. Belzer received one of 12 statewide Leaders in the Law awards from the Wisconsin Law Journal. Mr. Belzer has had the honor and privilege of representing three Wisconsin Innocence Project clients who were ultimately exonerated. One of these clients, Evan Zimmerman, a man previously falsely convicted and sentenced to life in prison for a homicide that he did not commit, was the subject of a feature length documentary, Facing Life, the Retrial of Evan Zimmerman, which can be seen in syndication on the Arts and Entertainment Network and the History Channel. Mr. Belzer is also a frequent commentator on national, statewide and local legal issues and has appeared on such nationally syndicated shows as Good Morning America, The O’Reilly Factor and Geraldo at Large. Keith has also worked as an actor, director and playwright. Keith has acted in Illinois, Wisconsin, Vermont and Connecticut. Plays he has written have been produced in California, Illinois, Connecticut, and Wisconsin. Prior to law school, Keith co-founded one theater company and managed two others and devoted close to a decade of his life exclusively to the world of theater.

If you intend to take a course for CLE credit, please make sure your state is listed in the "Accreditation" section to the upper right of the program description. Accreditation displayed is unique to the purchased program format (live conference, live webcast, on demand, podcast). Credit totals listed for live conferences are the maximum credits available. Credits issued will be based upon actual time in attendance.  Credit totals for other formats are for complete programs.  Partial credit is not available for any online or downloadable format. 

West LegalEdcenter will not provide accreditation for states not listed. 

This product is intended for individual use by the named purchaser. Group viewings for online programs may be arranged for five or more attorneys within the same organization prior to viewing by emailing west.wlec-sales@thomson.com.