Civil Trial Certification Exam Prep Course (2025)
Category: Materials
Member Price: $28
Non-Member Price: $35
Areas of Law: Civil
Featured Speaker
Moderator
- David R. Kott, Esq.
- Fellow, American College of Trial Lawyers
McCarter & English LLP, Newark
Presenters
- Hon. Gregg A. Padovano, J.S.C.
- Bergen County Superior Court
- Norberto A. Garcia, Esq.
- President-Elect, New Jersey State Bar Association
Blume Forte Fried Zerres & Molinari, Chatham - Marc D. Garfinkle, Esq.
- Certified By the Supreme Court of New Jersey As a Civil Trial Attorney
The Law Office of Marc Garfinkle - Diana C. Manning, Esq.
- Second Vice President, New Jersey State Bar Association
Bressler Amery & Ross, PC, Florham Park - Lauren M. Strollo, Esq.
- Certified By the Supreme Court of New Jersey As a Civil Trial Attorney
Vasios, Kelly & Strollo, PA
MASTER CIVIL TRIAL PRACTICE WITH NEW JERSEY'S ELITE LITIGATORS
Essential Preparation for the Certified Civil Trial Attorney Exam
Whether you're preparing for the prestigious Certified Civil Trial Attorney examination or seeking to elevate your trial skills, this intensive program delivers the strategies and insights that distinguish New Jersey's most successful civil litigators. Learn directly from an exceptional faculty of Supreme Court-Certified Civil Trial Attorneys and a sitting Civil Division judge – practitioners who have shaped the landscape of civil litigation in our state. This comprehensive review covers critical subjects tested on the certification exam and encountered in sophisticated trial practice, as outlined by the Board of Attorney Certification. From intake through post-verdict motions, you'll gain the tactical knowledge and procedural mastery that define excellence in the courtroom.
Program Agenda:
- 8:45 | Welcome and program overview - David M. Kott, Esq.
- 8:50 | Intake, pre-trial practice and Rules of Procedure - Norberto A. Garcia, Esq.
- Problem recognition - advisability of suit-cost considerations
- Jurisdiction, venue, and choice of forum
- Applicability of statute of limitations
- Ethical considerations - conflict of interest - fee arrangements
- Competency to accept employment
- Retainer agreement
- Investigation
- Legal research
- Settlement procedures
- Demand letter
- Rules of Procedure
- 10:00 | Filing Suit - Norberto A. Garcia, Esq.
- Pleadings
- Elements of causes of action and defenses
- Elements of damages
- Temporary restraining orders and permanent injunctions and other extraordinary remedies
- Intervention
- Pretrial discovery and related motions
- Defensive cross-claims and counterclaims
- Pleadings
- 10:50 | Break
- 11:00 | Experts and pre-trial submissions - Diana C. Manning, Esq.
- 12:15 | Lunch
- 12:45 | Trial - Hon. Gregg A. Padovano, J.S.C. and Lauren M. Strollo, Esq.
- Trial strategy and tactics
- Jury selection
- Opening statement
- Introduction and exclusion of evidence
- Relevance
- Competency of witnesses
- Privileges
- Presumptions
- Impeachment
- Opinion and expert testimony
- Hearsay and hearsay exceptions
- Exclusion for valid reason of evidence otherwise admissible
- Judicial notice
- Documentary and physical evidence
- Cross-examination
- Offer for limited purpose and re-offer
- Offer of proof
- Motions during trial
- Establishing a trial court record for appeal
- Objections to evidence
- Exceptions to charges
- Requests to charge the jury
- Special interrogatories to the jury
- Summation
- Court's charge and instruction to the jury
- Jury deliberation
- Verdicts
- Findings of fact and conclusions of law
- Post-verdict motions
- Judgments
- Form
- Enforcement
- 2:50 | Break
- 3:00 | Rules of Professional Conduct - Marc D. Garfinkle, Esq.
- 3:50 | Program wrap up/Q&A
- 4:00 | Adjourn