The library
Lesson decks
Nine lessons on the Federal Rules of Evidence as they’re argued in mock trial. Each one walks through the rule, gives you the formula for objecting and responding, and ends with calls you make yourself. Pick a deck and flip through it right here.
Video lessons coming soon
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19 slides
FRE 401Relevance
Why the bar for relevance sits so low, and what makes a fact “of consequence.” Then six exhibits from a murder case where you decide: relevant or not?
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13 slides
FRE 403Unfair Prejudice
The balancing test: probative value against six dangers, and why it has to be substantially outweighed. Learn the two tracks for responding, then rule on two scenarios.
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17 slides
FRE 404 · 405 · 406Character Evidence
What a person is versus what a person did. Propensity, the criminal-case exceptions, permitted purposes under 404(b), methods of proof, and habit.
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12 slides
FRE 602Personal Knowledge
What the witness perceived versus what the witness assumes. How to lay foundation, when not to over-object, and how to respond when they do.
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14 slides
FRE 701 · 702 · 703 · 705Expert Testimony
Where lay opinion ends and expert opinion begins. Qualify an expert on all four prongs of 702, and object the moment a prong is missing.
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15 slides
FRE 801 · 802Hearsay, Part 1
The rule everyone “knows.” The truth of the matter asserted, the non-truth purposes you’ll use, and the exclusions, including an opposing party’s own words.
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10 slides
FRE 803Hearsay, Part 2
The five exceptions you’ll actually use, from excited utterances to business records. Concede the hearsay and name the exception.
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10 slides
FRE 901Authentication
Proving the thing is the thing. The four questions that get an exhibit in, handwriting and voice identification, and how to answer a foundation objection.
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6 slides
FRE 1002 · 1003 · 1004Best Evidence
The objection almost everyone makes wrong. When the original is actually required, and the three answers that defeat a best-evidence objection.
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