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3 INCL Brief 1 (1973-1974)

handle is hein.journals/tbrief3 and id is 1 raw text is: October 1973 Volume 3, Number 1 Published by the Section of Insurance, Negligence & Compensation Law Im. RARTechniques Committee, Past and Projected Activities, 1972-73 Your chairman, filling the vacancy created by the untimely Illness and death of Bill Nolan, first attempted to make personal or semi-personal contacts with as many committee vice-chairmen and members as possible. With the help of the recommendations made by outgoing chairman Don Jackson, the computer studies made by then incoming chairman Bob Muchemore, the personal study of the overall situation by chairman-to-be Dick Maurer, and the responses to the personal inquiries made, a vitalized committee was activated. Approximately half the vice-chairmen who apparently were not able to devote the attention necessary assumed positions as regular committee members at the sugges- tion of Mr. Maurer, and they were replaced as vice-chair- men by other committee members who expressed an active interest. Committee members who had apparently lost interest in participation were eliminated, and were replaced, partly as the result of personal contacts which had been attempted, through the other routines previously dis- cussed. The program plan for the Washington meeting was aimed first at demonstrating advanced trial techniques, and, secondarily, at creating such audience appeal that Section 'members would remain to attend the final business session in order to observe the attractive demonstration. A separate goal of your chairman was to interest committee members and vice-chairmen in attending the annual meeting and participating in the function of the committee itself. Personal letters and telephone calls were involved in this effort. THE RESULTS: The committee is now headed by a somewhat reduced number of vice-chairmen who are active. In response to a last-minute letter reminding committee members of the innovation of a committee business meeting breakfast at the annual meeting, over 50 percent of the committee responded, either by letter, telephone, or personal attendance at the breakfast. Copyright ©) 1973 American Bar Association Perhaps most remarkable at the Washington meeting was that some sixty lawyers attended the breakfast business committee meeting when there was no other program offered to encourage attendance. The showcase demonstration at the annual meeting succeeded in drawing one of the largest audiences of any of the committee programs, although it was not as great as expected, which an informal survey indicated was largely because many members of the Section had already checked out of their hotel rooms the morning before this afternoon program, and this should be taken into consideration in next year's programs. Another innovation was to use committee members as the performing lawyers in the mock trial to further the idea that the committee should be composed largely of outstanding trial lawyers in the nation. In the theme of the trial, Lou Ashe, a committee vice-chairman, acted as attorney for the plaintiff, and F. Lee Bailey, a ccmmit- tee member, represented the defendant, with the trial being presided over by your chairman. The program was intended to carry out the role of the committee as epitomized in the name itself, Trial Techniques. Three new techniques were intended to be demonstrated: first, changing approaches to be used by plaintiff and defense attorneys in the relatively new field of insureds suing their own carriers in no-fault cases; second, the use of the results of a polygraph test as evidence in the trial of a civil lawsuit; and, third, the taking of a deposition by closed circuit television. The program consisted of respective counsel actually interrogating the witness by live television as if he were in a distant city, and later the witness, Ray Weir, one of the nation's top polygraph examiners, was brought onto the stage for further direct and cross-examination in person. The program at the annual meeting was Intended to be a climax of this committee's efforts to keep abreast of (continued on page 4)

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