Cross-Examining the Plaintiff in Employment Harassment and Discrimination Cases
Recording of a 90-minute CLE webinar with Q&A
This CLE webinar will provide employment trial lawyers with the tools to handle the challenging task of cross-examining a plaintiff/victim claiming harassment or discrimination. The plaintiff/alleged victim's deposition is typically the pivotal testimonial event in the case. Trial counsel is often stuck between a rock and a hard place: push aggressively, and the plaintiff/victim may garner sympathy; hold back too much, and the defense suffers.
Outline
- Differences between deposition cross and trial cross
- Witness preparation
- Information gathering
- Legal research
- Deposition conduct
- Learning the plaintiff's case
- Getting admissions
- Setting up impeachment
- Trial issues
- Know the answer to every question before asking
- Lines of attack
- Discrediting plaintiff testimony without fostering backlash sympathy
Benefits
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 fortifying the plaintiff’s case during his or her deposition
- Strategies for discrediting the plaintiff without provoking anger at the defendant(s)
Faculty
Ashley Allyn
Of Counsel
Gibson Dunn & Crutcher
Ms. Allyn practices with the firm’s Labor and Employment and Litigation Departments. Her practice focuses on... | Read More
Ms. Allyn practices with the firm’s Labor and Employment and Litigation Departments. Her practice focuses on labor and employment litigation, including state-wide and national wage and hour and discrimination matters, as well as employer counseling and policy revision.
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Lynne Bernabei
Partner
Bernabei & Kabat
Ms. Bernabei has been litigating employment discrimination, civil rights, and whistleblower cases for over thirty... | Read More
Ms. Bernabei has been litigating employment discrimination, civil rights, and whistleblower cases for over thirty years. She is a founding partner of Bernabei & Kabat, PLLC, where she handles claims of civil rights violations, and discrimination cases across the country. Although the practice focuses on cases in state and federal court in the Mid-Atlantic region, she has also litigated cases in New York, California, Illinois, Pennsylvania, New Mexico, and Arizona.
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Stephen E. Fox
Partner
Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton
Mr. Fox leads Sheppard Mullin’s Texas employment law practice. Consistently recognized by peers and clients as a... | Read More
Mr. Fox leads Sheppard Mullin’s Texas employment law practice. Consistently recognized by peers and clients as a “go-to” courtroom advocate, he has been inducted as a Fellow into the prestigious College of Labor and Employment Lawyers and selected by his peers as one of the Top 100 attorneys in Texas. In 2019, Mr. Fox was selected by Best Lawyers (2020) as a Lawyer of the Year in the field of labor/employment litigation. He graduated from the University of Virginia’s School of Law and obtained his undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame. Mr. Fox's litigation and counseling practice is centered around labor/employment and complex business disputes. His business litigation experience includes trying cases involving trade secret theft, breaches of contract and fiduciary duties, business torts (fraud, unfair competition, defamation), and corporate espionage. In the area of labor/employment law, Mr. Fox has significant experience in defending wage and hour class actions, including claims for off-the-clock work, overtime pay, and meal and rest period violations. He has also tried cases involving claims of discrimination on the basis of race, sex, age, religion, disability, national origin, marital status, sexual orientation, and other classifications, leaves of absence (ADA, FMLA), corporate downsizing, and non-competition violations.
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