Commanding the Courtroom: Trial Persuasion Techniques That Win

Trial attorney Ed Dudensing opens with the foundation of his recent nine-figure elder neglect and wrongful death verdict against Colony Capital, a publicly traded Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT), and Formation Capital, a private equity investment firm. Using real slides, witness strategy, and courtroom moments pulled directly from the case file, he shows how to read jurors for authenticity, likability, and vulnerability, and why weeding out beats preconditioning. He then turns to the roadmap technique for the opening statement, defining defendants early and setting themes jurors will carry through trial, and to case-in-chief strategy: organizing witnesses to tell a story, using documents tactically, and handling “surprise” evidence.

The second hour moves from the case-in-chief to the verdict. Mr. Dudensing demonstrates how to cross-examine the defense by extracting concessions and knowing when to get in and out. He then breaks down closing argument techniques, including anchor slides, statistical evidence, syllogisms, and confronting defense arguments head-on, and walks through the structure of the rebuttal closing argument. The session ends with the punitive damages phase: proving reprehensibility and using the defendant’s financial condition effectively.