Total Credits: 8.2 MCLE, 8.0 Kansas Credit-General
Sponsored by MoBarCLE and The Missouri Bar Young Lawyers' Section
(Exact times may change)
9-9:56 a.m. | Preparing for your first jury trial
Speakers: Sarah J. Duggan, Brown, Curry & Duggan, LLC, Kansas City; EmmaLee A. Wilson, Edelman Liesen Myers LLP, Kansas City
9:56-10:48 a.m. | Your starting point is the finish line: How to instruct a jury in a civil case
In Missouri, it is mandatory that attorneys use Missouri Approved Instructions (MAI-Civil) in any civil case where those approved instructions apply. The 8th Edition of MAI was published in 2020. Have your MAI book or eBook ready and learn practical tips for how to use and modify MAI to properly instruct a jury.
Learning objectives:
Speaker: Joan M. Lockwood, Gray Ritter Graham, St. Louis
10:48-10:58 a.m. | Break
10:58-11:49 a.m. | Legal practical and persuasive considerations for voir dire
Voir dire is a complex and difficult-to-control process. This program will give viewers thoughts and guidance on how to seat your best jury and practical considerations to incorporate into your techniques.
Learning objectives:
Speaker: Morry S. Cole, Gray Ritter Graham, St. Louis
11:49 a.m.-12:42 p.m. | Opening statements
Speaker: Tristin M. Estep, Missouri Attorney General's Office, St. Louis
12:42-1:42 p.m. | Lunch
1:42-2:31 p.m. | Direct and cross-examination
Learn strategies for conducting effective direct and cross-examination of witnesses at trial.
Speaker: Morgan C. Murphy, Zevan Murphy LLC, St. Louis
2:31-3:22 p.m. | Trial objections and motion practice in limine
We will focus on the fundamentals of making objections, including when an objection is worth making, when is it mandatory to preserve the issue, and what issues should be addressed prior to trial by means of a motion in limine.
Learning objectives:
Speaker: Theodore A. Bruce, Missouri Attorney General's Office, Jefferson City
3:22-3:32 p.m. | Break
3:32-4:21 p.m. | Closing arguments
Speaker: Ryan J. Krupp, Krupp & Raboin, St. Louis
4:21-5:10 p.m. | Trial technology
This session will discuss trial presentation hardware, software, and applications that can be used to have a seamless trial presentation. This session will also provide tips on how to make your presentation slides more persuasive for a better visual impact. This session will also discuss tools that can be used to make a trial presentation more engaging and how to better demonstrate themes and theories whether in a trial or mediation. The session will end with a summary of what demonstrative visual items are best presented at trial and what cautions should be taken when using trial presentation technology and slides.
Speaker: Jimmy B. Wilkins, Watkins & Eager PLLC, Jackson, MS
5:10 p.m. | Adjourn
Opinions and positions stated by presenters of MoBarCLE programs are those of the presenters and not necessarily those of The Missouri Bar. This program is intended as information for lawyers in Missouri, in conjunction with other research they deem necessary, in the exercise of their independent judgment.
| 01 Preparing for your first jury trial (246.9 KB) | Available after Purchase | ||
| 02 Your starting point is the finish line How to instruct a jury in a civil case (1.5 MB) | Available after Purchase | ||
| 03 Voir dire (3.8 MB) | Available after Purchase | ||
| 04 Opening Statement Training (479.3 KB) | Available after Purchase | ||
| 05 Direct and cross-examination (845.6 KB) | Available after Purchase | ||
| 06 Objections and motion practice (366.7 KB) | Available after Purchase | ||
| 07 Closing Arguments (1 MB) | Available after Purchase | ||
| 08 Trial Technology (4 MB) | Available after Purchase | ||
| MOLAP Information 3-31-25 (750 KB) | Available after Purchase | ||
| Important Information for Attorneys Seeking Kansas Credit (102.8 KB) | Available after Purchase | ||
A 1981 graduate of SLU Law School, Ted has spent his entire career with the Missouri Attorney General's Office where he has tried over 300 jury trials in State and Federal Court, in all but two of Missouri's counties. He was a special prosecutor, and also represented State law enforcement officers and agencies in civil rights, personal injury and discrimination cases. Ted also is a certified law enforcement instructor.
Morry S. Cole practices primarily in the areas of wrongful death, aviation, products liability, professional negligence, and corporate litigation. He received a B.B.A. in Finance from Baylor University in 1993 and a juris doctor from the University of Missouri in 1997. While at the University of Missouri, he served as an Editor of the Missouri Law Review, a Research Assistant to Professor Martha Dragich, an Intern to the Honorable Duane Benton, Missouri Supreme Court and a part-time Law Clerk to the Honorable Edward D. Robertson, Jr., Missouri Supreme Court. After graduation, he served a year as a full-time research attorney and law clerk for Judge Robertson.
ce joining Gray, Ritter and Graham, P.C., Mr. Cole has practiced before the Missouri Courts of Appeal for the Eastern, Western and Southern Districts of Missouri and the Missouri Supreme Court and he has tried cases in many Missouri Counties and the Eastern and Western District Federal Courts. He is President of the Missouri Bar Board of Governors and is an adjunct law professor at Washington University.
Before law school, Sarah served as a police officer, graduating from the Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center. This role provided her with a unique perspective on policing, shaping her understanding of the urgent need for reform. Sarah also spent over fifteen years in the service industry witnessing firsthand the struggles of lower wage workers.
Following law school, Sarah joined the City of Kansas City’s Corporate Litigation Department, where she tackled employment, tort, and contract claims from a defense standpoint. This experience broadened her perspective, equipping her with the tools to better guide her clients through the complexities of litigation.
Currently, Sarah channels her passion for advocacy into her role as an attorney representing employees against their employers, which involves tackling giant corporations on behalf of the disadvantaged employee. She also serves as an adjunct professor at the University of Missouri Kansas City School of Law, where she teaches trial advocacy. In this capacity, she not only imparts her extensive knowledge to aspiring lawyers but also inspires them to champion justice and integrity in their future practices.
Tristin Estep works at the Missouri Attorney General’s Office as the Deputy Chief of the Public Protection section. Tristin prosecutes cases state wide acting as special prosecutor in Missouri counties. She has tried dozens of cases to juries in serious and complex cases including homicide, child sexual assault, child abuse, domestic violence, adult sexual assault, and more. Prior to her employment with the Attorney General’s Office, Tristin worked as a prosecutor in Cole County, as well as at the St. Louis Circuit Attorney's Office where she was a member of the Special Victims Unit. She is a 2015 graduate of Saint Louis University School of Law, with concentrations in criminal and civil litigation.
Ryan Krupp is a trial attorney who focuses on personal injury, wrongful death, and criminal defense cases in Missouri. Ryan has tried a range of cases from semi-truck crashes, premises liability, to wrongful death cases, and a variety of others.
Joan Lockwood, director with Gray Ritter Graham, handles a broad range of litigation, including automobile and trucking accidents, products liability, medical negligence, and wrongful death. She was appointed to the Missouri Supreme Court Committee on Civil Jury Instructions in 2003 serving as reporter from 2009-2019 and chair from 2020-present.
Morgan Murphy is the managing partner at Zevan Murphy LLC in St. Louis, focusing on plaintiffs’ medical malpractice and personal injury cases across Missouri and Illinois. Before joining the plaintiffs' bar, she spent six years defending physicians in medical malpractice suits. She graduated from Washington University School of Law.
Jimmy B. Wilkins was admitted to the Mississippi Bar in 1997 and brings substantial experience in tort, general litigation, and personal injury litigation on the defense side. His practice exclusively focuses on defending clients sued in cases involving catastrophic incidents, including explosions, electrocutions, fires, burns, drownings, severe injuries or deaths, and product cases involving significant injuries. His clients include premises owners, oil and gas product companies, businesses engaged in major commercial and residential projects, product manufacturers, and national retailers. Jimmy has a strong track record of handling significant premises and product liability cases, having tried approximately twenty-five significant cases to verdict. Before joining Watkins & Eager, he served as a law clerk for the Honorable William H. Barbour, Jr., United States District Judge for the Southern District of Mississippi (1997-98). Additionally, Jimmy is a frequent national lecturer on integrating artificial intelligence in litigation, utilizing Apple technology as an organizational tool in litigation practice, and is a frequent national lecturer on using Apple technology to present at trial effectively.
EmmaLee Wilson is an employment discrimination attorney practicing in the Kansas City Metropolitian area. She has been licensed since 2019 and has several successful jury verdicts, including most recently a 10.8 million dollar verdict in December of 2024 in Jackson County, Missouri, against the Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department.
|
Thu, Sep 04, 2025 - 9:00 AM to 5:10 PM CDT
|
Click HERE to review the Cancellation Policy.
