Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Tips for Questioning
Review: "The Art of Cross Examination" is one of the best books anyone who wants to be a lawyer should read. Law school teaches case law and penal code, but this book teaches how to conduct criminal and civil trials. Wellman is a genius and I'm sure he could take on some of the best lawyers today. The mere fact the book was written in 1900 does not interfere with its effect. While laws have changed, courtroom procedure has not. Read this book whether you want to be a lawyer of just want to be up on the legal system.
Rating: 
Summary: A true classic
Review: Although dated in style, this work is a profound analysis of the technique of cross examination. An insightful and rich resource, the years have not dimmed its power. Worth re-reading. Every court room practitioner should have a copy on their shelf.
Rating: 
Summary: A Museum Piece. Interesting and Useless.
Review: As a trial lawyer and former assistant district attorney, I read this book expecting to learn the nuts and bolts of cross-examination. What a disappointment. The book is obsolete and contains virtually nothing of any use to today's trial lawyer. It's a fun read, and it's interesting to see some of the examinations excerpted, but using this book to learn to cross-examine is probably close to malpractice. There are excellent books and tapes on the topic if you want practical "how to" info. This isn't among them. Still, it's worth reading as a piece of legal history.
Rating:
Summary: The Classic Commentary on Cross Examination
Review: Back in 1973, when I rose to my hind legs to cross examine my first adverse witness in my first jury trial, I had but one thought on my mind: "What do I do now?" The answer came to me from a little paperback book I had picked up on a whim while I was in law school. Remembering a few of the teachings in that book, I struggled through that cross and several more en route to a favorable jury verdict.The first two years of my law practice, I read "The Art of Cross Examination" once every three months, and I profited from each re-reading. Wellman gives a wealth of basic practical advice, gives it in an engaging fashion, and illustrates it with entertaining stories. When you read it, you may find some gender references which we "enlightened" moderns would describe as "politically incorrect," but try to remember that the book was written a century ago. Despite the fact that it's beginning to show its age a little, this book is THE classic commentary on cross examination. Nowhere else can you find such good instruction at such a low price. END
Rating:
Summary: A Highly Accessible Masterpiece
Review: Every once in a while a book is published that has a wide appeal to the general public even though it is written for a specific, professional audience. _The Art of Cross-Examination_ by Francis Wellman is just such a book. But, this book is not new and today it does not have a very wide readership outside the field of law. Perhaps this is because of a marketing failure on behalf of its publishers or perhaps it is due to a lack of reviewers pointing out the value it offers to a general audience. Whatever the case may be the fact remains that this book _is_ worth reading--by the professional attorney _and_ the average man or woman on the street. The purpose of my review here is to show, in essence, why. _The Art of Cross-Examination_ teaches its readers how--meaning: by what methods--the truth can best be reached given conflicting stories or observations (whether they result from dishonesty, or from a failure to properly identify the truth). One of the things readers will learn from this book is how to--and when or when not to--ask the questions that will lead one to the truth, whatever that turns out to be in each case. You will learn the methods and the proper manner of cross-examination and then you'll learn how both of these apply in differing contexts (such as when cross-examining an expert or a perjured witness). As in all great non-fiction books Wellman presents what is being taught clearly, building in each chapter on what was learned in the previous one. More importantly, the author presents his case for how a proper cross-examination should be conducted by reference to numerous, often-humorous, and always-dramatic instances of successful cross-examinations. It is because of this, that an attorney young in years (if he or she reads this book carefully) may be experienced in knowledge well beyond his actual age. And this, I think, is the major reason why it has--quite properly--become a classic in the field of law. One example of the type of instances Wellman cites in his book ought to be sufficient to show how instructive _and memorable_ they can be. This particular instance is a humorous case where the author himself is cross-examining the witness. The suit was brought against the Metropolitan Street Railway after two of the company's electric cars collided. I will let the author, in his own words, explain the rest. "The plaintiff, a laboring man, had been thrown to the street pavement from the platform of the car by the force of the collision, and had dislocated his shoulder. He had testified in his own behalf that he had been permanently injured in so far as he had not been able to follow his usual employment for the reason that he could not raise his arm above a point parallel with his shoulder. Upon examination ... I asked the witness a few sympathetic questions about his sufferings, and upon getting on a friendly basis with him suggested that he be good enough to show the jury the extreme limit to which he could raise his arm since the accident. The plaintiff slowly and with considerable difficulty raised his arm to the parallel of his shoulder. 'Now, using the same arm, show the jury how high you could get it up before the accident,' was the next quiet suggestion; whereupon the witness extended his arm to its full height above his head, amid peals of laughter from the court and jury." This example is but one of many. What it shows is, not just the value this book has for budding attorneys, but also its appeal to the general public. In many ways it offers the same value as do the numerous stories about dumb criminals that we hear almost daily on radio programs or in the newspapers. Yet, for my own part, this book is decidedly better--for its emphasis is not on the stupidity of common criminals but on the intelligence and skill of heroic lawyers. _The Art of Cross-Examination_ is thus a book for those who want to see great minds at work (and discover what made their success possible). It is a book that entertains as much as it instructs--and because of this has appeal to those both within and outside of the specific audience for which it was written. In short, if you are intrigued by the drama of the courtroom or seek to one day take an active part in that drama, you will love this book. (Note: the book, however great, is not without faults--and I do not therefore endorse it unconditionally. The author makes some glaring errors in his descriptions of human nature that I cannot agree with and I do not subscribe to his belief that _absolute_ certainty is impossible to us as humans. These faults--and a few others of less grave consequence--detract from the overall value of the book but they do not mar its value too much. And thus, my enthusiastic recommendation of this book, albeit with this minor note of caution.)
Rating:
Summary: The Undisputed Classic!
Review: For the Law Student, buy this book. For the practicing Attorney, buy this book. It is money well invested!
Francis Wellman's "The Art of Cross Examination" is the undisputed classic text on cross.
As Wellman points out on page 24, "There is no short cut, no royal road to proficiency, in the art of advocacy." No truer statement has ever been put to paper. I first came across this paperback in Law School during mock trials, and have come to rely upon it many, many times especially at preliminary hearings.
Although dated (first edition 1903), the author quotes extensively from memorable cases and utilizes them to illustrate both the manner and matter of cross-examination. Wellman covers the topics of handling perjured witness and the expert, and the importance of sequence and the importance of paying attention to the nature of the psychology of the witness.
The aspect of Wellman showing how, and knowing when, to illicit information from the witness is why this book has become famous.
Wellman uses many famous (at the time) cases that are very humorous, and also timeless (marital discord in 1903 is marital discord in 2004, for example). This is a very well written book and I promise that useful "nuggets" of information will be found. Well done! Five stars.
Rating:
Summary: A Museum Piece. Interesting and Useless.
Review: If you are a trial lawyer, or if you find trials and legal dramas interesting, you should read this book. It is definitely among the best law-related books every published, and its quality has not diminished in the almost 100 years since its initial publication. It is simply great to read the cross-examinations by these great trial lawyers.
Rating:
Summary: Its a fantastic bargain...
Review: Most of the lawyers master legal subjects. Very few lawyers lack in legal knowledge. Then, why only a very few shine in their profession? The answer is "Advocacy". You may have knowledge, you may have common sence, however, as long as you don't have the expertise in Advocacy and Cross-examinition, you are a loser! Wellman offers his wisdom ... Grab it. Such chances come very rare!
Rating:
Summary: "If the glove don't fit, you must acquit!"
Review: Page 33 line 13, "To be a great advocate, you must be a great actor". Of course it helps if you have a great case. But what if you don't? Johnny Cochran proved the power of charisma mixed with emotional drama in a courtroom. It really is "art" in every sense of the word. Who else but a highly trained artist, is able to cross-examine a hostile witness, who also happens to be a veteran cop, in such a manner that the cop actually ends up helping secure an acquittal? (i.e. Mark Furman) If Marsha Clarke had read this book, she would have never let O.J. try on that glove. NO WAY! Bottom line, if you are a great lawyer wishing to become an excellent lawyer, this book is required reading. Nuff said!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent, but also see Keith Evan's Common Sense Rules
Review: This book contains many details on the art of cross-examination
of a witness. It covers the manner of the examination, perjured
testimony, the sequence of examination, experts, silent cross
examination, dangers and comments on uses and misuses of the
process. This book would be very helpful to law students,
trial lawyers, pro-se litigants and a whole host of constituencies in the legal profession and professions on the
periphery. Here is an important quotation from the work: "If all witnesses had the honesty and intelligence to come
forward and scrupulously follow the letter as well as the
spirit of the oath "to tell the truth, the whole truth, and
nothing but the truth," and if all advocates on either side
had the necessary experience, combined with honesty and
intelligence, and were similarly sworn to develop the whole
truth and nothing but the truth, of course there would be no
occasion for cross-examination, and the occupation of the
cross-examiner would be gone. But as yet no substitute has
ever been found for cross-examination as a means of separating
the truth from falsehood, and of reducing exaggerated statements
to their true dimensions."
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