From Classroom to Courtroom:
DeKalb Bar Association Raises the Bar in Student Learning

DeKalb Bar Sponsors Cedar Grove High School Students
in a “Journey Through Justice”

In March, 25 students from Cedar Grove High School learned about the law at the State Bar of Georgia. The DeKalb Bar Association provided a $500 sponsorship, through which the transportation and lunch costs were paid for the participants. The State Bar’s Law-Related Education Program, “A Journey Through Justice,” provided a four-hour, interactive learning experience for students and teachers.

Pictured at left: “State witnesses” are all smiles about the verdict.

Click on the thumbnail photos to see more images:

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Thank You to Our Bench & Bar Sponsors!

Platinum Fried Rogers Goldberg LLP Shapiro & Swertfeger, LLP Gold A. Thomas Stubbs, Attorney at Law Committee to Elect Denise M. Warner Emory University, Center for Lifelong Learning Fellows LaBriola, LLP Miller & Martin, PLLC Slappey & Sadd, LLC Wilson,…

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Litigator’s Playbook
Miss Manners Matters – So Do First Impressions

by Jeri Kagel, M.Ed., J.D.

Voir dire. Anglo-Norman derivation: voir (truth) + dire (speak), or
Voire dire. French derivation: “to speak the truth.”
Voir dire. Legal practice: question/answer.

Attorneys ask questions and veniremembers speak the truth. Based on this definition, the goal of voir dire should be obvious: to seek the truth. However, judges and many attorneys often have another goal for voir dire: to get it done quickly. But giving voir dire short shrift neglects many of the benefits that may be reaped from a thoughtful and well-executed voir dire. Three important goals, which have been discussed and debated over the years, include:

1. Educate: voir dire educates the jury about your case;
2. Eliminate: voir dire uncovers any bias, prejudice, or attitude that could hurt or help your case;
3. Engage: voir dire begins to establish rapport with the jurors.

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The Shadow Cursor: Cicero the Blogger

by The Shadow

We lawyers tend to equate living in the electronic age with having reached a new pinnacle of evolutionary progress. But we can’t deny that much of what we consider to be part of the “e-revolution” is in fact a repackaging of old-fashioned skills and tools that lawyers have employed for millennia.

Marcus Tullius Cicero, Esquire – whom many consider to be one of the greatest advocates and orators of all time – never performed Internet-based legal research, e-filing, or telecommuting. But what is not evident to many is that in the first century B.C. Cicero actually engaged in an activity that so many of us assume was invented just years ago: “blogging.”

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On the Calendar: April Events

Family Law Section Breakfast Meeting April 1, 7:30 a.m. Harrison Room, second floor of the Old DeKalb County Courthouse, 101 E. Court Square. Guest speaker: The Honorable Cynthia J. Becker, DeKalb Superior court. Cost: $12 members, $15 nonmembers. To RSVP…

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