The rough and tumble of examinations — direct, cross, redirect — is the heart of this handbook, which offers up a wealth of practical techniques and advice for the novice litigator. For more experienced counsel, it can offer alternatives to practices developed over years. Maintaining a plainspoken style throughout, Examinations in Civil Trials presents a sophisticated and comprehensive approach to conducting examinations in court, and before administrative tribunals. Nearly every section wraps up with a case study — a fact situation drawn from the courtroom that sets up an exercise — and a “solution” clearly showing how an advocate might tackle the exercise with aplomb.

John Hollander received his LLM from Queen’s University (1976) and was called to the Ontario Bar in 1978. He has been a practising civil litigator since his Call, with a one-year hiatus in the corporate world. John has a passion for mentoring and teaching young lawyers. He offers innovative seminars and workshops on advocacy skills, which you can check out at www.advocacyclub.ca. Recently, John has started to interview leading Ottawa lawyers for his podcast series, www.chatwithlawyers.ca.

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“Examination in Civil Trials is excellent. I am so happy to have it. I actually keep it in my trial binder and use it as I'm preparing my outlines. I have been preparing questions using the Five-in-Five-out formula all day. The book is a must-have for any junior lawyers that are preparing for their first hearing. It’s informative and to the point.”

Megan Murphy, litigation lawyer