Impeachment of Witnesses in Civil Litigation: Strategies for Discrediting Adverse Witnesses

Description

Success in high stakes civil litigation frequently hinges on the credibility of key witnesses testifying at trial. Cross-examination offers litigators an opportunity to undermine the credibility of adverse witnesses by impeaching their testimony using prior inconsistent statements, evidence of bias or contradictory facts. Effectively impeaching a witness makes a lasting impression on the jury. Impeachment can also help attorneys undo the damage caused by unexpected testimony from their own witnesses.

To impeach the credibility of adverse witnesses, counsel must move past the “three C’s” of impeachment—commit the witness to the direct testimony, confront the witness with the inconsistent statement, and complete the impeachment. Successful impeachment requires a thorough understanding of the substantive and procedural rules governing witness impeachment. Litigators must be thoroughly familiar with the depositions and other documentary evidence in a case to identify vulnerabilities and inconsistencies in testimony and prepare to act on them during cross-examination.

Listen as our experienced panel of litigators outlines effective strategies for impeaching witnesses during civil litigation. The panel will share techniques from their own experiences that have proven successful in impeaching witnesses, discuss special considerations for impeaching your own witness and impeaching expert witnesses, and help counsel avoid pitfalls such as impeaching testimony on relatively minor issues or inconsistencies.