A must-attend webinar focuses on 2025 Trial Skills Academy
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A must-attend webinar focuses on 2025 Trial Skills Academy
By Tom Kirvan
Friday, March 21 is the date of a special webinar highlighting the upcoming Primerus Trial Skills Academy.
The hour-long webinar is scheduled to begin at 1 PM EDT and will be hosted by New Jersey attorney Tom Paschos and Primerus President Jack Buchanan. The March 21 program – which is free and open to all Primerus members – will provide an overview of the inaugural Trial Skills Academy followed by a question-and-answer session.
The Academy will feature twice-monthly Zoom sessions of 60 to 90 minutes in length, slated for the first and third Fridays of each month (dates detailed below). Each webinar will include a presentation followed by discussion. The Trial Skills Academy will reach its climactic stage when four mock trials take place in September at the Kline Institute of Trial Advocacy at Drexel University in Philadelphia.
“We are fortunate to have a blue-ribbon list of trial attorneys who are donating their time and talents to the Trial Skills Academy,” Paschos said. “They bring years of experience across the state and federal court systems and are among the most successful practitioners of their craft in the world of Primerus.”
In addition to Paschos, founder of the New Jersey law firm bearing his name, the faculty of the Trial Skills Academy includes:
- John Brydon, the managing partner in the San Francisco law firm of Demler, Armstrong & Rowland, LLP
- Bob Brown, a named partner in the Houston law firm of Donato, Brown, Pool & Moehlmann PLLC
- Nicole Quintana, a partner in the Denver law firm of Ogborn Mihm LLP
- Tom Winner, a named partner in the Las Vegas law firm of Winner & Booze
- Gary Shockey, a named partner in the Wyoming law firm of Gary L. Shockey, PC
- Jay Downs, a named partner in the Dallas law firm of Downs & Stanford, P.C.
Following the March 21 introductory session, the April 4 webinar will cover “Trial Basics,” highlighting “the 12 essential rules of trial advocacy” and “what every Primerus lawyer should know by the end of the Academy.”
The topics of the eight other programs include:
- The Art of Persuasion: Opening and Closing Statements (April 18)
- The Federal Rules of Evidence (May 2)
- Direct and Cross Examination Skills (May 16)
- Jury Selection and Analysis (June 6)
- Examining Expert Witnesses (June 20)
- How to Hit Home Runs, Singles, and Doubles in Trial (July 11)
- Using Latest Technology in Trial (July 18)
- Mock Trials: Rules and Regulations (August 1)
The culmination of the Trial Skills Academy will feature four mock trials slated for Friday, Sept. 12 and Saturday, Sept. 13 at Drexel University Thomas R. Kline Institute of Trial Advocacy and Juanita Kidd Stout Center for Criminal Justice.
“The March 21 webinar will give Primerus members a glimpse of what to expect in the Trial Skills Academy and how it can benefit you and your firm in significant ways,” said Buchanan, who successfully tried more than 200 cases to verdict over the course of his career. “The Academy, which has been in the works for the past two years, promises to be an excellent opportunity to invest in your legal career.”
