Blog Authors

Latest from Black's Law, A Blog

Closing argument can be a powerful tool to assist the jury in considering what are sometimes very different sides of a case.  Below is Roy Black’s closing argument in the “Varsity Blues” Georgetown University bribery trial of Amin Khoury.  To download a pdf of the closing argument below, click here.
 
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS

My Firm and I have committed to support this year’s American Heart Association Heart Walk. Why? Because I like to be an advocate. That’s what I do. Cardiovascular disease is the largest killer today. So I am advocating support of their research to prevent and treat heart disease, and in helping the AHA spread life-saving

Miami, FL – July 11, 2016 –In a colorful 41-page opinion, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed all counts charging nightclub owner Albert Takhalov with wire fraud and money laundering.
The Government accused Takhalov and other nightclub owners of committing fraud by paying “bar-girls” to invite male patrons into clubs and enticing them to

Miami, FL – July 11, 2016 –In a colorful 41-page opinion, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed all counts charging nightclub owner Albert Takhalov with wire fraud and money laundering.
The Government accused Takhalov and other nightclub owners of committing fraud by paying “bar-girls” to invite male patrons into clubs and enticing them to

I can not exaggerate the power of the opening, the first minute, even the first sentence, of a speech. The speaker must capture the attention of the audience. If not, they drift off into their own world and tune you out. How do you grab them by the throat and make them listen? Professional writers

New York, April 30, 2016. Renee Hill represents one of nine current or former Rikers Island prison guards charged with viciously beating an inmate. Jahmal Lightfoot, the former inmate, is the star witness against the guards. Lightfoot testified that these guards mercilessly punched, kicked and stomped on him with boots that felt “like a brick.”


Gimme a ticket for an aeroplane
Ain’t got time to take a fast train
Lonely days are gone, I’m a-goin’ home
My baby, just-a wrote me a letter
– The BoxTops
 
Once in rare while we come across a piece of advocacy which seems almost perfect. This is hard to accomplish in cross examination

Jian Ghomeshi
After the DeCoutere Disaster, the Crown called to the witness box a woman publicly identified only as complaint #3. If the Crown thought she would bring their case back from the dead, they were sorely mistaken. She managed not only to impeach herself but to dump even more calumny on to DeCoutere. The