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Anatomy of A Trial (Oakland)

October 13, 2023 @ 8:30 am 4:30 pm

Earn 6.5 Hours of MCLE. Includes Legal Specialization in Family Law

State Building
1515 Clay Street
Oakland, CA

Anatomy of a Trial

Speakers

  • Honorable Mark Juhas
  • Honorable Monica F. Wiley
  • Andrea Palash, CFLS, AAML
  • Avi Levy, CFLS, AAML, IAFL

Schedule

7:30 – 8:30 a.m. | Registration and Continental Breakfast

8:30 – 9:30 a.m. | Theory of the Case and Opening Statement

1.0 Hour Legal Specialization in Family Law

Determine how best to develop a theme and theory of your case and present an opening statement by crafting persuasive story, giving an overview of the evidence, and provide the Court with a roadmap of the case.

9:40 – 11:10 a.m. | Direct and Cross Examination

1.5 Hours MCLE

Understand how to formulate direct examinations that will advance your case theory. Learn how to strategically ask questions that your judicial officer will find interesting and engaging. Review how to elicit relevant and clear facts from “friendly” witnesses, how to efficiently and effectively cross examine adverse witnesses, and how to successfully disprove or counter damaging evidence with rebuttal witnesses.

11:20 – 12:20 p.m. | Everything about Experts

1.0 Hour MCLE

Tools to use and areas to explore when selecting and disclosing an expert, when deposing an expert, and cross-examining an adverse expert. Utilize the most persuasive methods in impeaching an expert witness. Explore the most efficient ways to present an expert opinion at trial, and/or to challenge an expert’s conclusions. Examine the effective use of hypotheticals with an expert.

12:20 – 1:20 p.m. | Lunch

1:20 – 2:50 p.m. | Evidentiary Issues

1.5 Hours MCLE

Develop strategies around the use, admission, and exclusion of evidence, including motions in limine and motions to exclude; overcome potential objections; and address Sanchez. Determine when best to eliminate evidentiary issues by stipulating to the facts.

3:00 to 4:30 | Closing Argument

1.5 Hours MCLE

Discover the most effective way to integrate the case theory and the supporting evidence. Explore how best to seek relief from the Court and how to successfully align the facts of your case with the law. Explore the effective use of technology and visual aids in closing arguments.

Speakers

Judge Mark A. Juhas sits in a general family law assignment on the Los Angeles Superior Court.  He is the immediate past chair of the California Commission on Access to Justice.  For the California Judicial Council, he has been on the CJER Governing Committee and the immediate past Co-chair of the Family and Juvenile Advisory Committee; he was a member of the Elkins Family Law Task Force, Elkins Family Law Implementation Task Force and Self- Represented Litigant Task Force. He recently received a lifetime achievement award from the Family Law Section of the State Bar and a Distinguished Service Award from the Judicial Council.  

The Honorable Monica F. Wiley was appointed to the San Francisco Superior Court Bench on September 1, 2009, by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Judge Wiley is the second African American female judge appointed to the San Francisco bench. Prior to her appointment, Judge Wiley was a senior associate at the law firm of Carlson, Calladine & Peterson LLP in San Francisco handling catastrophic personal injury and wrongful death cases for individual and corporate defendants. Before joining the private sector, Judge Wiley worked as a Deputy City Attorney in the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office for over ten years litigating complex personal injury matters and civil rights actions. She served as lead trial counsel in 27 jury trials both in state and federal courts.

During her tenure with the San Francisco Superior Court, Judge Wiley has presided in civil, criminal, family, delinquency and dependency departments in both trial and calendar courtrooms. She has served as the Supervising Judge of the Unified Family Court since 2018 and currently is a member of the Court’s Executive Committee, the Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee, the Personnel Committee, and the Judicial Mentor Committee. Judge Wiley is also a member of the 2021-2023 Judicial College Steering Committee, a faculty member and seminar group leader for the B.E. Witkin Judicial College, and a member of the faculty for the California Center for Judicial Education (CJER) for New Judges Orientation (NJO). She also serves on several statewide committees as a member of the Judicial Council Juvenile Law Curriculum Committee, the Family and Juvenile Law Advisory Committee, and is a Commissioner with the California Commission on Access to Justice. Judge Wiley is also an Adjunct Professor at UC College of Law, San Francisco (formerly Hastings College of Law) where she teaches an advanced Trial Advocacy course during the spring semester.  

As a practicing attorney, Judge Wiley was admitted to the United States District Court, Northern District of California, and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Judge Wiley currently serves as a task force member on statewide committees focused on civility and the elimination of bias in the legal profession and on the advisory committee of Centro Legal De La Raza’s Youth Law Academy. Judge Wiley is an associate member of the San Francisco Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) and the 2022-2023 President of the Lawyers Club of San Francisco, an American Inn of Court.

Judge Wiley is also a life member of the California Association of Black Lawyers (CABL) and the Association of African American California Judicial Officers (AAACJO), and currently serves as the President of AAACJO. Judge Wiley earned her J.D., cum laude, from Howard University School of Law. She received her bachelor’s degree in Political Economies of Industrial Societies from the University of California at Berkeley and is a four-year letter winner as a member of the women’s intercollegiate basketball team. Go Bears! During her judicial career, Judge Wiley has received the 2021 Bernard S. Jefferson Judge of the Year from the California Association of Black Lawyers, the 2021 Alba Witkin Humanitarian Award from the California Judges Association and was named the 2022 California Family Law Judicial Officer of the Year by the California Lawyers Association.

Avi Levy is a graduate of the UCLA School of Law and has been practicing family law exclusively since 2002. He graduated cum laude from the University of California, Los Angeles, with a B.A. in political science. In 2011, he became certified as a family law specialist by the State Bar of California, Board of Legal Specialization. In 2020, Mr. Levy was inducted as a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML) and in 2021 he was inducted as a Fellow of the International Academy of Family Lawyers (IAFL).

Andrea Palash obtained her undergraduate degree from the University of California at Berkeley and her law degree from Golden Gate University School of Law. Ms. Palash was admitted to the California State Bar in 1987 and has practiced family law almost exclusively since that time. She is a partner in the San Francisco firm of Coats│Palash, LLP. She is a Certified Family Law Specialist, a Fellow in the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML), a past President of the Northern California Chapter of the AAML, past co-chair of the Chapter’s Mentoring Committee, an AAML Symposium Co-Chair, and a recurring member of the AAML Trial Practicum faculty. She is a former member of the Family and Juvenile Advisory Committee to the Judicial Council of California and the former Chair of the Executive Committee of the Family Law Section of the State Bar of California. Ms. Palash is a current member of the Family Law Section of the State Bar of California, the Association of Certified Family Law Specialists (ACFLS), and the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (AFCC). Ms. Palash has been a speaker for various AAML (State and National), ACFLS, AFCC, California State Bar, and numerous county bar association programs and has published numerous articles on various topics related to Family Law. Ms. Palash has been named a “Northern California Super Lawyer” by San Francisco Magazine (2004-2022) and as one of the “Top 100 Northern California Super Lawyers” by San Francisco Magazine (2006- 2009) and as one of the “Top 50 Female Northern California Super Lawyers” by San Francisco Magazine (2006-2013;  2016).

Registration Fees

  • Member of Family Law Section — $500
  • Non-Section Members — $595 
  • New Lawyers Section, Government Employees, and Non-Profit Employees — $505
  • Onsite Registration — $650

More Info

The deadline to register online is Friday, October 6, 2023. Cancellation and refund requests must be received in writing by October 6, 2023. For more information, email ProgramRegistrations@calawyers.org. For special assistance, please email FamilyLaw@calawyers.org.

We are committed to accessibility! Virtual events are equipped with closed captioning. To request an in-person accommodation, send us a note at accessibility@calawyers.org or contact us at 916-516-1760 for assistance.

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