BarbriSFCourseDetails
  • videocam Live Webinar with Live Q&A
  • calendar_month March 4, 2026 @ 1:00 p.m. ET./10:00 a.m. PT
  • signal_cellular_alt Intermediate
  • card_travel Personal Injury and Med Mal
  • schedule 90 minutes

Cross-Examination of the Sympathetic Plaintiff in a Personal Injury Case: Plaintiff and Defense Strategies

$197.00

This course is $0 with these passes:

CLE
ALL
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About the Course

Introduction

This CLE webinar will equip trial lawyers to handle the challenging task of cross-examining a plaintiff claiming significant injury. Defense counsel is between a rock and a hard place: push too hard in the wrong way and create sympathy for the plaintiff; hold back too much and the defense fails to point out critical flaws in the plaintiff's case. Plaintiff's counsel is always ready to exploit this dilemma.

Description

Rare is the case that does not come down to the plaintiff's testimony. Whether in a deposition or during the trial, counsel must know what to ask and how to ask it. Counsel must decide whether the deposition or trial should be the focus and how to prepare for the substance of both.

The defendant's counsel must walk a tightrope between advocacy and sympathy. If a case is likely to proceed to trial, counsel's deposition of the plaintiff may concentrate on establishing opportunities for impeachment at trial. However, counsel's plan to impeach the plaintiff must be nuanced to present a vigorous defense without alienating the jury.

Plaintiff's counsel will want to prepare the plaintiff to share facts showing liability and damages. Moreover, the plaintiff must be ready to provide facts that rebut the defendant's defenses and theory of the case.

Listen as our panel of courtroom veterans discusses when to opt for a deposition-focused or trial-focused approach, how to prepare for either, and an appropriate tone to discredit the plaintiff's testimony without engendering jury sympathy.

Presented By

Spencer Aronfeld, Esq.
Founder, Board Certified Trial Lawyer
Aronfeld Trial Lawyers

Mr. Aronfeld  has dedicated his life to representing individuals against corporate giants, such as Carnival Cruise Lines, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, Celebrity Cruise Lines, Disney Cruise Lines, Norwegian Cruise Lines, Holland America Cruise Lines, the Bayer, Johnson & Johnson, Stryker, Target, Publix, Walmart, Mt. Sinai Hospital, State Farm Insurance Company, United Automobile Insurance Company, Baptist Health South Florida, South Miami Hospital, and International Airplane Leasing. He earned international recognition after his first jury trial, when an Orlando, Florida jury awarded his Uruguayan clients a $100,000 verdict against Walt Disney World. Mr. Aronfeld is Board Certified as a Civil Trial Lawyer by both the Florida Bar and the National Board of Trial Advocacy.

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Marc H. Perry
Principal
Post & Schell P.C.

Mr. Perry is a Principal in Firm's Casualty Litigation Department and Co-Chair of the Firm's Hospitality & Retail Practice Group. He is an experienced trial lawyer and has successfully defended clients in litigation in state and federal courts. Mr. Perry litigates and defends a variety of claims on behalf of the hospitality, retail, and health care industries, including claims involving wrongful death, slip/trip and fall, criminal conduct of third parties on the premises, negligent security, and bed bugs.

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Clint Townson, PhD
Jury and Strategy Consultant
Townson Litigation Consulting

Mr. Townson is an experienced and attentive litigation consultant, practiced across myriad case types. He has worked on hundreds of different cases in his career, assisting trial teams at every stage of the process, from pre-filing strategy through post-trial interviews of jurors. Mr. Townson uses his keen intellect and informed instincts to focus on practicable recommendations for attorneys. He pairs social science perspective with an intuitive read on persuasion strategy in the context of litigation. Mr. Townson's combined experience in trial summits, jury research, witness preparation, and jury selection inform his tactical approach to litigation consulting. His collaborative spirit allows him to readily immerse with any trial team at any point in the timeline of the lawsuit.



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Credit Information

  • This 90-minute webinar is eligible in most states for 1.5 CLE credits.


  • Live Online


    On Demand

Date + Time

  • event

    Wednesday, March 4, 2026

  • schedule

    1:00 p.m. ET./10:00 a.m. PT

I. Differences between deposition cross and trial cross

II. Witness preparation

A. Information gathering

B. Legal research

III. Deposition conduct

IV. Learning the plaintiff's case

V. Getting admissions

VI. Setting up impeachment

VII. Trial issues

VIII. Know the answer to every question before asking

IX. Lines of attack

X. Discrediting plaintiff testimony without fostering backlash sympathy

The panel will review these and other critical issues:

  • Whether to make deposition or trial the venue for plaintiff's cross-examination
  • Substantive preparation and planning for the plaintiff's deposition
  • Strategies for discrediting the plaintiff without provoking anger at the defendant(s)
  • Deposition strategies that plaintiffs use for fortifying their case