In case you couldn’t already tell . . . I’m fascinated by the things other fields have to teach us (criminal trial lawyers) about what we do. For example, theatre: Keith Johnstone’s books, Impro for Storytellers and Improvisation and the Theatre contain lots of nuggets of wisdom that my brain translates into ways of thinking about trial.

I know a good deal about the use of psychodrama for trial preparation and in trial, and I’ve studied enough hypnosis and neurolinguistic programming to see how we can (and sometimes do, both consciously and un-) use some of their techniques in trial. But that’s not necessarily cutting-edge stuff — some law schools teach NLP in trial advocacy classes, and law schools are not known for being on the forefront of trial advocacy.

Trial lawyers: what other disciplines do you incorporate into your advocacy?

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