NITA Publications

Opening Statements: A Modern Approach

By the end of your opening statement, 80 percent of your jurors have made their decision. In this DVD, Hon. Sanford M. Brook empowers you to make effective and persuasive opening statements that will make a lasting impression on jurors. He also addresses common mistakes made during openings and how to remedy them. The days of rambling, fumbling and argumentative openings are over.

• >> AUTHOR
  
  
  • Sanford (Sandy) M. Brook
    
    
    • Sanford M. "Sandy" Brook joined Denver, Colorado's Judicial Arbiter Group (JAG) in April 2004. Brook is one of twenty former state and federal judges that compose the Judicial Arbiter Group. He performs both mediation and arbitration services at JAG. In 2006, a survey of the Colorado Bar published in 5280 Magazine, named Brook among the top ten Mediators in Colorado. Before joining JAG, Brook served five years on the Indiana Court of Appeals, including chief judge. Prior to service on the appellate bench, Brook spent twelve years on the trial bench in South Bend, Indiana. In his last three years on the trial bench, he served as chief judge. After receiving his law degree from the Indiana University School of Law in Bloomington, Brook served as an assistant city attorney, a deputy prosecuting attorney, and engaged in private practice. Throughout his career, he has served as an adjunct assistant professor at the Notre Dame Law School, as an adjunct professor at the Indiana University Law School in Bloomington and as a visiting instructor at the Nottingham Law School in England. He has taught in NITA's public, in-house and international programs since 1988.