Total Credits: 1.0 CLE
I have been asked to speak with you and share some “tips from a seasoned litigator.” The label of “a seasoned litigator” prompts a pause attended by both reflection and anticipation. A reflection on the hundreds of cases tried and the anticipation of the many cases still on the active docket. There are war stories that bring back warm and inspirational memories as well as scars that don’t feel or look so good. There has been a lot of self-satisfaction, self-criticism, wins and losses, agony and ecstasy. Wilke’s quote set forth above says it best. “Were it otherwise, I would never have been able to find these words.” The thoughts and words (Tips?) I offer here are the residue of a great deal of study, reading, teaching and the practical experience of standing and delivering in courtrooms for over forty years. I have borrowed and stolen from far better trial lawyers, jury consultants and writers who have influenced my learning and this is an effort to satisfy those IOU’s and pay it forward. Like each of you, I am still an active and thirsty student searching to become a better and more effective trial lawyer.
| Heninger HO.pdf (1003.7 KB) | 28 Pages | Available after Purchase |
| INSTRUCTIONS FOR COMPLETING SEMINAR AND RECEIVING CLE CREDIT2.docx (11.7 KB) | 1 Pages | Available after Purchase |
Mr. Heninger earned a B.A. degree from the University of Illinois in 1972. After spending two years as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Army, he earned his J.D. degree (Summa Cum Laude) from Cumberland School of Law at Samford University in 1977. He served as a law clerk to Honorable James H. Hancock, District Judge for the Northern District of Alabama before beginning his practice as a trial lawyer specializing in the litigation of personal and commercial tort actions. He has authored “Bad Faith in Alabama: An Infant Tort in Intensive Care” in the Alabama Law Review. He has served as President of the Birmingham Bar Association and the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) Alabama Chapter. He received the ABICLE Walter P. Gewin Award for service to the bar in 1993. He has been listed by “Super Lawyers” as one of the Top 10 Lawyers in Alabama for the past 4 years. He has been listed in the Best Lawyers in America (Woodward & White) since 1991. He has written numerous papers and lectured throughout the country on trial advocacy skills and strategy at venues including: Harvard School of Law, Stanford School of Law; Georgetown School of Law; University of New Mexico School of Law; University of North Carolina School of Law; University of Tennessee School of Law; University of Miami School of Law; University of Alabama School of Law; and, Cumberland School of Law. He is a “master bencher” with the Birmingham Inns of Court and a “fellow” of the Alabama Law Foundation which limits its membership to the top 1% of the State Bar.
