Courtroom Guide for Non-Lawyers

About the Book

Courtroom Guide For Non-Lawyers is a comprehensive manual of courtroom procedures, including a glossary of 488 legal terms and 81 suggestions for being a good witness.  It is written for the lay person who at some time might be a witness, a litigant, or a juror in a court trial, as well as for doctors, engineers, accident reconstructionists, and others who may serve as expert witnesses in a court trial.

This guide would be useful for the training of police and law enforcement officers who are often called on to be witnesses in a court trial.  It would aid law students in not only understanding courtroom procedures but in realizing many pitfalls and shortcomings in a court trial.  

The importance of supporting oral testimony with demonstrative evidence, such as photographs, is also addressed in this guide.

FOREWORD

Benjamin Cantor, the dean of forensic photographers and an accomplished expert witness, has drawn upon his years of experience in the courtroom to produce a valuable guide designed to lead non-lawyers through the thicket of legal terminology and procedures.  In a concise few pages of readable prose, he has demystified the essentials of both criminal and civil proceedings.  Mr. Cantor has treated the reader to observations from some of the judicial system’s most perceptive critics—judges themselves—as well as to his own unique insights into the processes of trial.

Mark S. Brodin

Professor of Law, Boston College Law School

REVIEW

The observations in Courtroom Guide For Non-Lawyers are quite consistent with my experience over the many years that I have testified as an expert medical witness in matters of litigation.  This is an excellent exposition of courtroom procedure, practice, and its shortcomings.  I have little to add.  This guide is a fine source of information for a litigant, a witness, or a juror who is involved in a court trial.

Robert H. Resnick, M.D.

About the Author