Practical Advice: Basics of Scientific Evidence

MCLE Credits: 2.0
Ethics Credits Included: 0.0

Tuesday, March 7, 2:00 - 4:00 p.m. ET Live Webcast Live Telephone Live on Site at Bobzien-Gaither Education Center 4801 Cox Road, Suite 108 (Richmond/Innsbrook - Glen Allen)
Tuesday, April 25, 2:00 - 4:00 p.m. ET Webcast with Live Q&A Telephone with Live Q&A
MCLE Credit:	2.0
Live-Interactive Credit:	2.0 (all dates, all formats)
Designation Credit:	2.0 Trial Practice/Litigation (Designations Information)
Registration Fees:	Live on Site: $159 Webcast: $159 Telephone: $179

Information
Schedule
Faculty
Locations, Dates and Fees

Information

Why Attend?

Explore the latest in both DNA preservation and analytical tools, and also learn about the uses of functional MRIs for psychiatric diagnosis
Understand how the latest developments can be helpful and how they can be misused
Find out how to work with your experts using state and federal discovery rules to challenge unreliable opinion testimony
Anticipate and overcome challenges to experts on direct or show the court the unreliability of certain scientific methods on cross-examination

Attorney, professor, and author Paul J. Zwier will provide countless tools and strategies to help understand and use scientific evidence in litigation. He will explain how lawyers in the forensic scientific community ensure that scientific evidence is based on properly applied and validated methodologies. While the National Commission on Forensic Comparison Methods has promoted research and standard development, the expert witnesses who testify are largely self-regulated. As a result, Zwier will show how, using the Commission’s research, FRE 701, and Daubert standards, lawyers can best present their own experts, and, in addition, how trial lawyers can effectively challenge unreliable expert opinions.

You will leave this seminar a more skilled and confident advocate after learning about:

DNA Evidence

Terminology and definitions
Investigation techniques for recovering biological material
Basic principles of DNA analysis
Professional standards for collection and testing
Current DNA analysis methodology and new software and databases for gathering samples
New techniques for gathering biological samples on the scene
Trial and analogies for presentation
Other resources

Forensic Psychiatry and Psychology Evidence

Terms and definitions
Evidentiary uses
Evaluations and tools
Neuroimaging, structural
Neuroimaging, functional, fMRI, MRS, EEG, MEG, PET, SPECt

Other Topics Include:

Evidence issues related to relevance, admissibility, and ultimate issue
Trial exhibits and analogies
Constitutional protections in the Fifth and Sixth Amendments

ATTENDING IN PERSON ON MARCH 7?

The Bobzien-Gaither Education Center in Richmond/Innsbrook is our new state-of-the-art facility designed with your safety in mind. It features a Centurion air filtration system, which quickly and effectively eliminates viruses and bacteria. Additionally, the facility is thoroughly cleaned before each seminar, and face masks and hand sanitizer will be available.

COVID-19 POLICY FOR LIVE-ON-SITE ATTENDANCE

By attending a live-on-site Virginia CLE^® seminar, you acknowledge the health risks associated with COVID-19 and that you MUST follow all Virginia CLE^® COVID-19 policies. You may NOT attend a live-on-site program if you have tested positive for COVID-19, if you are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, or if you are under any self-quarantine orders per CDC guidelines.

Click here for details about the Virginia CLE^® COVID-19 policy. Please revisit the webpage routinely for updates as we are monitoring the evolving COVID-19 situation. All updates to this policy will be emailed to registrants.
(Last updated March 2, 2022)

Discounts available for Virginia CLE webcast-telephone-live seminars

Registration Deadlines:
Webcast:	10 minutes prior to seminar. If you register for a webcast the day of the seminar, your e-mail receipt will include a link to launch the seminar and download the materials.
Telephone:	Online registration ends at 11:59 p.m. the day preceding the seminar Call (800) 979-8253 to register up to one hour prior to the seminar
Live on Site:	Online registration ends at 11:59 p.m. the day preceding the seminar Walk-in registration is permitted on a space-available basis

Cancellation Policy: Cancellation/transfer requests will be honored until 5:00 p.m. the day preceding the seminar. You will, however, be charged $40 if you cancel or transfer your registration to a different seminar after the link to the materials has been e-mailed by Virginia CLE.

Full refunds or transfers are available up to two days after a webcast in the unlikely event that you experience technical difficulties.

Inclement Weather Policy and Updates.

MCLE Credit Caveat: The MCLE Board measures credits by the time you spend in attendance. If you enter a seminar late or leave it early, or both, you must reflect those adjustments accurately in the credits you report on your credit reporting form. A code will be given at the end of the seminar, which must be written on your MCLE form.

Can't Attend?
E-mail distance_ed@vacle.org to be notified when/if this program is made available as an On Demand or USB seminar.
E-mail publications@vacle.org to be notified when/if this program's seminar materials are made available for sale.

Schedule

COURSE SCHEDULE (March 7) (Eastern Time)

2:00	Practical Advice: Basics of Scientific Evidence
4:00	Adjourn

Sign-in for live seminar attendees in Richmond/Innsbrook begins at 1:30 p.m.
Q&A will be handled via chat room for Webcast attendees.
Q&A will be handled via e-mail for telephone seminar attendees.

COURSE SCHEDULE (April 25) (Eastern Time)

2:00	Practical Advice: Basics of Scientific Evidence
4:00	Adjourn

Q&A will be handled via chat room for Webcast attendees.
Q&A will be handled via e-mail for telephone seminar attendees.

Faculty

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Paul J. Zwier, Emory School of Law / Atlanta, GA

Paul J. Zwier II is Of Counsel to Guttman, Buschner & Brooks PLLC with offices in Atlanta and Washington, DC. Mr. Zwier is one of the nation’s most distinguished professors of advocacy and skills training. He joined the Emory Law School faculty in 2003, taking on several roles. As director of the Advocacy Skills Program, director of Emory’s Program for International Advocacy and Dispute Resolution, and a professor of law, Professor Zwier joined the Emory University Law School faculty from the University of Tennessee Law School. He also teaches evidence, torts, products liability, and an advanced international negotiation seminar. He previously served as professor of law and director of the Center for Advocacy and Dispute Resolution at the University of Tennessee. Prior to that he taught at the University of Richmond School of Law from 1981 to 1999.

Mr. Zwier has served as former director of Public Education for the National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA) and has taught and designed public and in-house skills programs in trial advocacy, appellate advocacy, advocacy in mediation, motion practice, negotiations, legal strategy, e-discovery, supervisory and leadership skills, and expert testimony at deposition and trial for more than 25 years. In 1998, Mr. Zwier received NITA’s Prentice Marshall Award.

His clients benefit from his expert advice on trial strategy, jury analysis, and negotiation and mediation strategy. He consults on a wide variety of disputes and topics including litigation involving bad faith insurance, products liability law, federal civil procedure, evidence law, the False Claims Act, securities fraud, patent litigation, MDLs, and other complex litigation matters. He is also an expert and consultant in the area of international dispute resolution. He has provided consulting services with The Carter Center (TCC), including its work in Israel/Palestine, in Syria, and in Liberia. In 2007 he was part of a TCC delegation working on the conflict in Gaza. In Liberia, his consultations included working with a delegation from Emory’s Institute for Developing Nations (IDN), providing TCC with an assessment of its GBV programming in Liberia, and working with magistrates, judges, and lawyers in building capacity following its civil war. This led to consultation and collaboration with the TCC in its collaboration with the Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Mr. Zwier has trained judges and lawyers for the international criminal courts, including the ICC, ICTY, ICTR, and ICT-Sierra Leone. He has also led training for Lawyers Without Borders and NITA, for the governments of Liberia, Tanzania, and in Kenya. He has also taught advocacy skills to international lawyers and judges in Yekaterinburg, Russia; Mexico City, Mexico; Quito, Ecuador; Monrovia, Liberia; Nairobi, Kenya; Tbilisi, Georgia; Northern Ireland; Scotland; England; and led seminars in negotiation and dispute resolution for black South African lawyers as part of a State Department program in 1999.

Mr. Zwier is the author of numerous books and articles. He received his JD from Pepperdine University in 1979, LLM from Temple University in 1981, and BA from Calvin College in 1976.