Comments from Phoenix area attorneys who attended "Great! Adverse Depositions: Principles and Principal Techniques" and/or "The 25 Credibility Arguments for Deposition and Trial"
"Great! Adverse Depositions: Principles and Principal Techniques"
This is the class every trial attorney/litigator should have been taught in law school. Excellent speaker…no war stories; just logic, reason, and excellent footage from real trials commonly recognized. The examples were well interspersed among the teaching points. Teaching us of the basics couldn't have been more interesting. This seminar will improve my depositions immeasurably…this was excellent tutelage in this rigorous discipline.
Michael Hrnicek, 1-yr atty, 50 adverse depos
The best programs regarding depositions are Musante's. "A++".
Charles R. Sterbach, 24-yr atty, 24 adverse depos
Among the most practical seminars I've attended. My general rule of thumb is that a seminar is worthwhile if I learn one practical tip. In this seminar, I learned several. Excellent speaker. Best seminar.
Robert Berk, 20-yr atty, 100+ adverse depos
Excellent seminar…superb speaker. The BEST.
Jack Paul Leon, 46-yr atty, 300 adverse depos
Very useful and user-friendly seminar. Excellent speaker. Best seminar in 25 years of practice in AZ for immediate practical application to practice.
Larry Condit, 30-yr atty, 50+ adverse depos
Excellent seminar…this seminar is packed with tons of material with practical application. Musante is very good…interesting and entertaining. This seminar is among the best I have attended. This seminar will have a major impact on the way I take depositions.
Todd Williams, 5-yr atty, 15 adverse depos
Excellent seminar…it has everyday application to my practice and approach to litigation. Excellent speaker…entertaining, to the point, and informative. This seminar is superior to others…not laden with worthless war stories.
Mark Hyatt Tynan, 25-yr atty, "many" adverse depos
The practical content of the seminar is immediately useful in bettering an attorney's ability to take a great adverse depo. Musante is an excellent teacher and showman. I learned from and greatly enjoyed the seminar.
Anonymous
Excellent seminar. I'm glad I took part in it and learned the tactics of taking a killer adverse depo early in my legal career…this seminar is well worth the time and expense of attending. Musante is intuitive, creative, entertaining and informative, all in one…understandable and effective.
Shaun White, 1-yr atty, 2 adverse depos
Great--as a baby lawyer, makes me hungry to take a depo. Excellent speaker…never boring.
Andrew Jacob, 1-yr atty
Excellent speaker. It is remarkable for one speaker to maintain the energy level and audience attention for a full day. This seminar is better than any I recall, except Irving Younger…this was better substantively than Younger. This is one of the CLE seminars that have real application to litigation practice.
Dan Durrant, 30-yr atty, 50 adverse depos
Excellent seminar…useful, practical. Very good speaker. The materials will help me practice, practice, practice…and will greatly improve my depositions skills.
Duke Fagan
Very good seminar…almost as good as his adverse expert depo seminar. Exceptional speaker. One of the best seminars I've attended.
Mark Rudolph, 20-yr atty, 100 adverse depos
Excellent seminar…a 9 out of 10. Outstanding speaker…a 10 out of 10. Musante obviously enjoys the English language, and makes great use of audio/visual aids. The movie clips were very effective to drive home each point. This seminar kept my attention, which is always helpful and productive.
Kevin Chapman, Roberts Rowley Chapman, 12-yr atty, 25 adverse depos
Terrific seminar…unconventional…refreshing. Outstanding speaker.
Charles Sterbach, 22-yr atty, 10 adverse depos
Practical seminar content HIGH. Excellent speaker. I believe this seminar will greatly improve the quality once I have studied the written materials. I viewed the oral presentation as a highly interesting and effective way of making me want to study the written materials.
David Gallo, 19-yr atty, hundreds of depos
Very helpful seminar that has material I can use now. Excellent teacher who has to go over a lot of material. This seminar is far better than other deposition seminars I have taken.
Roberto Pulver, 5-yr atty
Very practical seminar…very good speaker. I hope this seminar will make my depos more effective for my clients by helping me focus on theory of the case and develop the same.
Michael Wolver, 15-yr atty, 20+ adverse depos
One of the best seminars...as entertaining as Irving Younger, and more useful.
Ron G., 20-yr atty, 50+ adverse depos
An incredibly useful and relevant seminar...superb speaker.
David Patton, 5-yr atty, 8 adverse depos
Rapid fire seminar...excellent speaker. This seminar is by far better than anything the State Bar offers.
Mitzi Torri, 21-yr atty, 1 adverse depo
Very useful tips…invaluable ideas. Musante is clear, animated. Sometimes the Powerpoint format tended to overwhelm the content.
Daniel Kaplan, 3-yr atty, 2 adverse depos
Very informative seminar. I think that you've done an excellent job of providing a reasoned approach to taking a successful deposition. Musante is highly competent and has a mastery of the materials. I wish we could cover the material more slowly. This seminar is equal to or better than others.
Karl Gruse, 5-yr atty, 20 adverse depos
Great seminar…great speaker…one of the best seminars I've attended.
Rebecca Salisbury, 7-yr atty, 5 adverse depos
Excellent seminar…excellent speaker. A seminar more useful and entertaining than others.
Anonymous, 9-yr atty, 50 adverse depos
Excellent seminar…excellent speaker; very engaging. This seminar really met my need.
Michael Patterson, 1-yr atty, 6 adverse depos
Very informative and practical seminar…already looking forward to my next depo! Musante is easy to follow…great, great, great. This seminar is exciting, informative, useful…top-notch…as exciting as CLE can get!
Eduard Goodman, 1-yr atty, 5 adverse depos
Excellent seminar…great teacher…very impressive. This seminar will improve my deposition techniques, but I will also put more time in preparing for depos.
Heather Miller, 3-yr atty, 20 adverse depos
This seminar sounds great in theory, but not having followed Musante's advice, I don't know how well they [practical content] will work in practice. Musante is effective and entertaining, but one must keep up with him. This seminar is much better than most.
Jeff King, 17-yr atty, 100+ adverse depos
The practical content of this seminar has been quite good. The theoretical construct that Robert teaches will help me going forward. Excellent speaker…a little rushed. This seminar is clearly the best I've attended.
Taylor Young, 5-yr atty, 3 adverse depos
Extremely useful seminar…fresh material…effective. Superb speaker. Best seminar since Irving Younger. I am going to completely rework the outlining I have used for years.
Ron Greenhalgh, 30-yr atty, 50+ adverse depos
Great seminar…great speaker. This seminar is much better than others…first one I haven't slept through. (I will be attending the two day expert seminar if it is offered…it's worth my time.)
Anonymous, 5-yr atty
Practical content = "8"; speaker's teaching ability = "9".
John Storer, 25-yr atty, 400+ adverse depos
Very helpful seminar. Musante keeps it interesting and has useful insight into deposition practice. One of the best seminars I have ever taken. (Two day seminars are good…we have them all the time in Texas.)
Luke Kellogg, 15-yr atty, 40 adverse depos
Best depo seminar I have attended. Musante kept my attention throughout.
N.J. Cornelius, 4-yr atty, 15 adverse depos
Great seminar! Excellent practical content; very helpful in thinking about how to craft effective questions. Musante is enjoyable and interesting. This is a major improvement over the limited training I had in law school.
Peter Culp
Best seminar I have taken all year. Leagues beyond anything I've done before. Excellent practical content. Musante is extremely engaging with riveting teaching style.
6-yr atty, 30 adverse depos
Excellent content which I can apply to my practice immediately. Musante is very entertaining, kept me focused and interested. This seminar will help to make me a better litigator overall, with tools I can apply to areas of my practice other than just adverse depositions.
Heather Bohnke, 2-yr atty, 10 adverse depos
Excellent practical content; excellent instructor. More lively than most. An excellent reminder that depositions should not be taken without a thorough knowledge of applicable facts and law and careful analysis of why you are deposing this witness.
Ron Rubin, 25-yr atty, 50+ adverse depos
Great! Much more practical info than other seminars. It put into perspective the real purpose for an adverse depo and how to achieve it.
Sally Shanley, 15-yr atty, 30+ adverse depos
Better than others. Musante is very clear and to the point. Powerpoints and case issues leave it fun and interesting.
Margaret Khalil, 11-yr atty, 100+ adverse depos
Excellent! I will never again withhold impeachment evidence. Superior, well-focused material and no B.S. delivery. The heart and soul of depos is revealed.
Peter O'Connor, 2-yr atty, 10 adverse depos
This seminar deals with the "meat and potatoes" of litigation practice. Mr. Musante gets the material across in a way that's understandable and entertaining. I wanted information on how to improve my ability to take adverse depositions and Musante delivered.
Pete Fisher, 22-yr atty, 100s of adverse depos
Excellent. Glad I heard it early in my career! Good use of humor and powerpoint.
Joshua Carden, 1-yr atty, 3 adverse depos
Outstanding! Excellent practical content.
Stephen B. White, 15-yr atty, 100 adverse depos
Extremely practical. Too short! This seminar makes me excited to take an adverse deposition.
Sandy Padegimas, 15-yr atty, 30 adverse depos
Content directly on point with interesting examples. I've used a lot of Musante's rules, but thought I was "breaking the rules." Now, I'll feel more confident using them. This seminar will help me get to that "next level" of taking depositions beyond fact-finding.
Stacie Robb, 4-yr atty, 50+ adverse depos
Excellent and entertaining; kept my interest all day.
30-yr atty, 500 adverse depos
Exceeds all other seminars. Makes my previous rules look silly.
Kent Phelps, 6-yr atty, 100+ adverse depos
Excellent seminar. Would love to see more. Mr. Musante doesn't pull any punches. Material is excellent. Top of my list compared to other CLEs. I learned so much: rules, techniques, terms, etc. I learned more today than in the past four years re depositions. This seminar had it all. Really wish I had had it 2 years ago.
Brenda Lindsey, 4-yr atty, 3 adverse depos
Far higher value than any other seminar that I have attended. Universality of rules versus the usual happy talk drivel. Very, very good practical content.. Codifies many things I knew, gave me much more to use.
George H. King, 9-yr atty, 40 adverse depos
Fantastic! I am a better lawyer for it. Musante is A+++.
Tom Baird, 5-yr atty
Excellent. Musante is excellent; maintains attention, communicates effectively. Far superior to other one-day seminars. I never fail to learn something new even after 30 years of litigation.
Michael G. Helms, 30-yr atty, 300-500 adverse depos
Unsurpassed. Musante is riveting. Best one-day seminar I've been to. Made me realize that every deposition I've taken, I've taken poorly.
J. Ridge Hicks, 4-yr atty, 25 adverse depos
Excellent practical content. Musante is very good; kept me engaged. There is no comparison between this and other seminars.
John West, 22-yr atty, 400+ adverse depos
Extremely helpful practical content. Musante is a very able instructor. This seminar is much more informative and insightful than other one-day litigation-skills seminars.
Douglas E. Lau, 1-yr atty, 5 adverse depos
Excellent! Musante was very entertaining and motivational. More challenging than other like seminars.
Jim O'Denkirk, 10-yr atty
This is an excellent seminar that teaches you to be aware of what is actually happening, or should be happening, during a deposition. Musante held my attention for every minute of the day. My "set of rules" would have been much different, and very wrong!
Melanie Pate, 5+-yr atty, 7 adverse depos
Better than many others I've attended. Excellent practical content. Musante is very energetic and entertaining. A fun way to learn.
Mary-Jane Gregory, 15-yr atty
Excellent. Musante was excellent. I hope I can employ this in practice.
Anna Bronnenkant, 3 yrs litigation
As good as it gets! Excellent practical content; excellent instructor.
10+-yr atty, 10 adverse depos
Great value for time spent. I've learned things/techniques that will be very helpful in future depos. Musante's style is interesting, keeps my attention. Seminar was very practical and applicable.
12-yr atty, 20 adverse depos
Outstanding compared to others. Excellent practical content; excellent instructor. Musante satisfied his "burden of proof." I am rethinking my strategies!
Jeff Cantrell, 5-yr atty
Excellent practical content. It moves along briskly and concentrates on only one area, unlike other seminars. Musante was excellent. Reminded me of concepts I think I knew, but put in an organized and forceful fashion.
Ward Parker, 20+-yr atty, 50+ adverse depos
Very helpful practical content. As a criminal prosecutor, I was interested in knowledge that I could apply during cross-examination. I wasn't disappointed.
J.D. Nielsen, 15-yr atty, 30-40 adverse depos
This seminar was informative and fun. I enjoyed all of the real-life examples. Very good practical content and Musante was excellent.
Robbin Coulon, 16-yr atty, 20 adverse depos
Very practical. Great real world examples. Excellent practical content; excellent instructor.
5 1/2 yr atty, 100 adverse depos
Very good practical content. Very good instructor. Better than most one-day seminars.
Ron Aschenbach, 10 yr atty
Excellent; best seminar I have attended. Excellent instructor. Much more relevant and practical information. Not general how-to, but actual application.
Greg Coulter, 7-yr atty, 50 adverse depos
The practical information provided in this seminar is invaluable and greater in substance and quality than most other seminars I have attended. Excellent practical content. Musante is articulate, animated; overall excellent teaching skills and presentation style.
Michael J. Ryan, 8-yr atty, 200+ adverse depos
Superb, leaves the rest in the dust. Instructor is "5 star". Totally different [set of deposition rules] but it's going to all my associates.
John Elardo, 6-yr atty, several hundred adverse depos
More valuable than usual...the practical skills learned I actually see myself using. Musante very good. Sense of humor kept my attention. Very lively speaker.
Kim Tryon, 1-yr atty, 15-20 adverse depos
I'm glad I took this seminar early in my career to start off doing it right. Musante has great teaching ability. This is the first CLE that actually increased my skills.
Kris Bailey, 1-yr atty
I would recommend this seminar to anyone. Excellent practical content and applicable to real-life practice. Musante is energetic and effective and convince me of the truth of his claims. I am much more willing now to abandon the conventional depo approaches.
Karen Treon, 8-yr atty
The best - truly a practical seminar. While sitting here, I figured out a great way to nail an adverse witness in my arbitration next Monday! Outstanding practical content. Outstanding instructor.
Brett M. Hager, 2-yr atty, 4 adverse depos
Excellent. Very informative and will be useful in my practice both in depositions and at trial. Excellent practical content. Most seminars are not useful but this one is practical and has things I can incorporate. Musante is great. Conveys the subject matter very well.
2-yr atty, 20-30 adverse depos
Very informative "how-to" format works well for young lawyers. Musante knows the material and does a good job of simplifying concepts. More practical than other seminars I've attended. Eye-opening in terms of opening the doors to a more effective way of taking a depo.
David L. Lockhart, 1-yr atty, 6 adverse depos
Excellent practical content. Very good instructor. Only seminar I've stayed all day for. (Usually I leave at the "7th inning stretch".) I didn't have a set of rules before this; now I have one.
Ann Hobart, 2-yr atty, 5 adverse depos
Very good for many aspects of depo-taking. Musante is excellent. This seminar is among the best that I've taken. The seminar's set of rules are more combative, but probably more helpful.
Jeff Molinar, 3-yr atty
Very valuable seminar. Mr. Musante is extremely energetic and transforms otherwise dry material into an enlightening, educational experience. It is on par with the best seminars I have attended. I believe the majority of the methods taught are matters of common sense and applied by most experienced attorneys. However, this seminar reinforces new ways of thinking about those tactics in a manner geared toward maximizing results. This is a great seminar!
Michael Walker, 9-yr atty, 200+ adverse depos
One of the best practical seminars I've attended. Very good practical content.
20-yr atty, 200-300 adverse depos
Top rate! Excellent practical content; excellent instructor. A great learning experience.
25-yr atty, 150 adverse depos
This seminar was very helpful to me as an inexperienced attorney in that it taught me what skills I needed to learn in order to conduct a successful adverse deposition. Mr. Musante was extremely effective in teaching his rules for adverse depositions. He captured the attention of and connected well with the audience. My "rules" would not have even resembled the rules I've learned from this seminar.
Jennifer Pollock, 3-yr atty
Superior compared to other CLEs. Excellent practical content. Musante was very well prepared. Good use of graphics and video. Some of my "rules" were similar. Some things are intuitive, but it is useful to have these instincts packaged together and individually analyzed.
13-yr atty, 100+ adverse depos
Very good, thoughtful, original structure. Musante is very good -- clear, entertaining, like a trial summation in hammering home a few important points. There is an approach here that looks very valuable and important.
15-yr atty, 15 adverse depos
Superior. I don't have a defined list of rules. I've always operated with undefined list, instinct mostly, responding to answers as I hear them. Now I have a list and strategies upon which to rely.
14-yr atty, 7 adverse depos
Ranks among the best I've taken. Musante is outstanding, both informative an entertaining.
24-yr atty, 100 adverse depos
Excellent seminar. One of the best. Excellent instructor.
9-yr atty
This seminar was excellent -- explained depositions to "criminal" attorney not experienced with depos. Musante was great and entertaining. I've nodded off in many seminars on this topic, but this one is "+++" compared to others.
15-yr atty
A very practical and useful seminar. It is one of the most useful CLEs I have ever been to. Excellent teacher.
Ben Himmelstein, 2-yr atty, 5 adverse depos
Tremendous seminar...top notch speaker. Off the charts better than other seminars.
Loren Molerer, 24-yr atty, 100 adverse depos
Very well organized seminar. Impressed with the organization and insightfulness of materials and presentation. GREAT! speaker. Very entertaining, knowledgeable and witty...loved the integration of real cases and video taped questioning. A far superior seminar.
Arturo Villarreal, 12-yr atty, 20-50 adverse depos
Excellent seminar! Provides techniques that I can easily apply to my depo practice. The examples provided were very helpful to solidify the techniques. An amazing speaker. Very sharp and funny. Kept my attention.
Chad Conelly
An extremely focused seminar. Musante is very easy to follow...entertaining and stimulating. The seminar is higher quality and more pinpointed than others. Very specific guidance and direction is given for better deposition practice.
Howard Meyers, 27-yr atty, 150 adverse depos
An unmatched seminar...excellent speaker. No comparison to other seminars...it is the best.
Charles Sterbach, 24-yr atty, 10 adverse depos
Excellent practical content. Excellent instructor. One of the best I have attended.
8-yr atty, 20+ adverse depos
Very informative and entertaining. Musante is dynamic and well-versed with information.
8-yr atty, 50+ adverse depos
Entertaining, energetic, good use of examples, sold support for rules. One of the most practical seminars I've been to. Practical guides I can use tomorrow morning.
15-yr atty, 50 adverse depos
Good show! Extremely practical and excellent instructor. Much better than other full-day seminars.
Anonymous
This is the best seminar I have attended. Musante is excellent. Very useful practical content.
1-yr atty, 1 adverse depo
Excellent, intelligent and entertaining. Musante is fabulous. Much more practical, hands-on approach than other seminars.
1-yr atty
"The 25 Credibility Arguments for Deposition and Trial"
This seminar is in a class by itself. Outstanding. Musante is without equal--high energy, entertaining, thought-provoking. He's clearly spent a lot of time developing and honing the presentation. His video clips perfectly illustrate his teaching points. Musante's art is not necessarily teaching experienced attorneys things they might not have already stumbled upon but it gives the techniques labels, structure, and logic to insure they can use them with intention every time.
Cathy Stewart, 21-yr atty, 150 adverse depos
The seminar is very helpful because it is comprehensive and well-organized. Musante is very good. There is some stuff he puts on the screen that is not in the written material, and he doesn't give enough time to write it down. The video clips were very helpful; I'm a big believer in story-telling as a teaching tool.
Jeffrey Patten, 20-yr atty, 500 adverse depos
Great stuff…very interesting seminar. Top-notch speaker. The video helped illuminate the points…more video!! This seminar will improve the quality of my depos 100 percent.
Eduard Goodman, 1-yr atty, 5 adverse depos
Excellent seminar…very good speaker. He should supply written materials that are more complete. This seminar will improve my cross-exam at deposition, change my philosophy--impeach fully, completely, and powerfully in the deposition. I will recommend this seminar to others…I plan to attend the two days on Experts in Houston.
Duke Fagan, 4-yr atty, 10-15 adverse depos
Great seminar, but not as good as yesterday (but I quibble). Superb speaker. Excellent video clips. Good integration between building on the Logic & Whack concepts yesterday and today's seminar.
Ron Greenhalgh, 30-yr atty, 50+ adverse depos
Extremely helpful seminar to lawyers at every level of experience. Outstanding speaker. This seminar will make a significant difference in all my future depositions; will force me to be more thorough. This seminar is a logical extension of "Logic & Whack".
Charles Sterbach, 22-yr atty, 10 adverse depos
Great seminar! Great speaker!
Larry Condit, 30-yr atty, 50+ adverse depos
Excellent speaker…would modify written materials…would include a few of the Powerpoints into materials.
David Gallo, 20-yr atty, hundreds of adverse depos
Useful seminar…good speaker.
Jim Bradley, 30-yr atty, 50+ adverse depos
Very good speaker. Musante is an excellent teacher…communicates clearly…makes it [the material] interesting.
Taylor Young, 5-yr atty, 3 adverse depos
Very good practical content…not quite as "radical" as "Logic & Whack". Excellent speaker. Videos kept things lively. The seminar will help reinforce and expand my depo practice.
Luke Kellogg, 15-yr atty, 40 adverse depos
Good seminar…the idea of a real case (OJ Simpson) to illustrate the practical content of the seminar is a good one. Musante is a good teacher…it is a nice effort at organizing how to approach a deposition.
Anonymous, 7-yr atty, 50 adverse depos
Excellent seminar…excellent speaker. Simpson examples were good. Volume of information is somewhat overwhelming.
Anonymous, 12-yr atty, 5 adverse depos
This was a very useful seminar that I can apply to my practice. Musante does a very good job of taking the material and showing "real world" situations and applications. I thought the OJ Simpson clips illustrated several of the credibility arguments. I believe the seminar will sharpen my use of rhetoric and logic in my depositions. The two seminars (Logic & Whack and 25 Credibility Arguments) dovetail nicely.
Roberto Pulver, 5-yr atty
The seminar seems to have direct application to everyday deposition-taking and provides insight for defending. Very good speaker.
Michael Wolver, 15-yr atty, 20+ adverse depos
Excellent seminar…superior speaker. Absolutely the best seminar.
Anonymous
I enjoyed the logical approach to taking an adverse deposition. Musante was well-prepared with excellent grasp of knowledge on the topic.
David Gordon, 5-yr atty, 10+ adverse depos
Fabulous seminar. Hands down, one of the two best teachers of legal concents I have ever heard. The other was my law professor, Tom Mauet. The videos added a lot…and the OJ instruction was well worth the time invested.
Anonymous
The practicality of this seminar is essential to any successful moden day litigator. Should be fit into law school curriculum. Fast-paced seminar…must really be on top of your game to digest the material. Great talking points; keeps the seminar lively.