LEGAL EDUCATION
While our adversaries are understandably anxious to face us in court, we reduce our clients' anxiety and fear of lawsuits by simplifying the civil litigation process. By educating our clients on Maryland laws and legal options, we work as a team to investigate evidence, form trial strategy, and prepare for effective trial testimony.
Our Maryland litigation attorneys also share their legal expertise and trial experience with Maryland business leaders, executives, community organizations, and consumer protection advocates seeking information on their legal rights in state and federal courts.
As a former professor of Evidence Law and Civil Procedure, Irwin Kramer has taught thousands of trial lawyers and law students seeking to enhance their litigation skills. Beyond law school courses and continuing legal education seminars, Mr. Kramer has prepared law graduates for bar examinations in several states. He and Jim Connolly continue to publish articles on trial advocacy, legal ethics and tort law, while presenting popular seminars for the Maryland State Bar Association, the Bar Association of Baltimore City, the Baltimore Claims Association, and the Maryland Land Title Association.
If you would like to arrange a legal education program on a topic of interest to your organization, please feel free to schedule a legal seminar for your company.
Reprints of the following articles are available upon request:
- Kramer & Connolly, Winning The Title: Avoiding Liability Under Maryland Law (2003)
- Kramer, Winning the Battle-of-the-Experts: Expert Advice on Expert Witnesses (1996)
- Kramer, The Birth of Privacy Law: A Century Since Warren and Brandeis, 39 Catholic University Law Review 703 (1990)
- Kramer, The Impoundment Control Act of 1974: An Unconstitutional Solution to a Constitutional Problem, 58 UMKC Law Review 157 (1990)
- Kramer, The Qualified Immunity Vaccine: Preventing and Fighting Section 1983 Suits Against Public Officials, 23 Suffolk University Law Review 965 (1990)
- Kramer, Life and Death Decisions: A Reply to Judge Peccarelli, 23 John Marshall Law Review 569 (1990)
- Kramer, The Full-Court Press: Sacrificing Vital Privacy Interests on the Altar of First Amendment Rhetoric, 8 Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal 113 (1989)
TELEVISED PROGRAMS: c-span2
Trying Cases in the Court of Public Opinion: Conflict in Covering American Courts
Moderated by Irwin Kramer, this program featured an all-star panel of lawyers and journalists exploring ways to serve the public's interest in legal news without disrupting a system of justice designed to protect the rights of litigants. Jointly sponsored by the alumni of Columbia University's Law School and Graduate School of Journalism, the April 7, 2005 panel included former White House Counsel David Kendall, past and present NBC News Justice Correspondents Carl Stern and Pete Williams, Jan Greenburg of the Chicago Tribune, WTTG-TV Investigative Reporter Paul Wagner and former federal prosecutor Victoria Toensing.
MARYLAND LEGAL EDUCATION SEMINARS
Winning the Battle of the Experts: Expert Advice on Expert Witnesses
In many of your most important cases, winning the "Battle of the Experts" is the key to winning at trial. To do so, you need expertise in preparing and in fighting expert witnesses! In this seminar, participants received the following ammunition to win this important battle and win cases:
- A Mastery of Expert Witness Law & Evidence Rules
- Strategies for Selecting Effective Experts
- Enhancing Your Expert's Power for the Jury
- Preparing a Gripping Expert Presentation
- Challenging Opposing Experts by Undermining Expertise
Suits for Suits: Litigation for Maryland Business Leaders
In today's aggressive business environment, being successful requires an understanding of the legal system and the costly game of litigation. In this exciting seminar, Irwin Kramer cut through the legalese and complexity of this system and provided Maryland business leaders with the knowledge to compete in a world of lawyers and lawsuits, and with these essential tools for competition in the new millenium:
- An Understanding of Lawsuits
- The Ability to Participate in Litigation Strategy
- Strategies for Preventing Disruptive Litigation
- Eliminating the Confusion of Lawsuits and Fear of the Unknown
- Ways to Minimize the Costs of Litigation
Putting Power in Procedure: Winning the Civil Litigation Game in Maryland
Winning the game of civil litigation requires much more than a knowledge of the facts underlying your client's case. Succeeding in civil cases requires a mastery of numerous procedural rules containing laborious language and technical traps for the unwary. Those who understand these rules and how to use them effectively can enhance their clients' chances of success in most any suit. In this exciting seminar, Irwin Kramer simplified even the most complex of procedural concepts with humorous and dynamic illustrations of the manner in which you can put power in procedure. After participating in this seminar, participants gained these important tools for litigation success:
- A Mastery of the Mechanics of Lawsuits
- Developing Effective Discovery Plans
- Strategies for Expediting Litigation
- Avoiding Ethical Traps in Litigation
- Ways to Minimize the Costs of Litigation
Winning the Title: Avoiding Liability Under Maryland Law
In recent years, Maryland has become one of the most litigious jurisdictions in the nation for title agents and other real estate professionals. In a full-day seminar presented to hundreds of title agents under the auspices of the Maryland Land Title Association, Irwin Kramer and Jim Connolly provided practical lessons learned from years of litigation on behalf of title agents trapped in real estate fraud cases and other claims alleging professional malpractice. They also warned these agents of "red flags of fraud" to assist them in detecting such fraudulent schemes as real estate "flipping," which may trap title agents in years of litigation or, even worse, years in prison.
How to Best Meet the Press: Media Relations for Lawyers
As lawyers, we not only represent our clients in a court of law, but also in the court of public opinion. To communicate effectively, we must avoid the pitfalls of misquoting and read red flags of stories destined to taint our client's message. To guide reporters in the right direction, this provided lawyers with a vital understanding of:
- Strategies for Shaping Stories Before They Are Even Written
- Performance Tips to Enhance a Client's Image in a Story
- Ways to Develop Positive Media Relations
- Tools for Generating Positive Press for Clients
- Pitfalls You Don’t Want to Read About in the Paper the Next Day