Two dynamic webinars now online—
Great Adverse Depositions
and
Attacking the Expert's Opinion
Deposition cross-examination is great fun — if done right — so let the learning begin!
Each webinar title is a video recording of a full-day seminar that was delivered live to a public audience. The webinars are presented here in 5 separate parts; each part corresponds to a session between the breaks in the live presentation.
The webinars are brimming with blunt judgments regarding the skills of the various questioners, the motives of the various witnesses, and the meanings of various other subjects. Accept nothing of importance on faith: skeptically scrutinize the sufficiency of the factual basis and the soundness of the reasoning that are proffered in support of each judgment.
Each purchase is for one lawyer's viewing only. However, you may contact us for a group discount. Also, before making any purchase, see FAQ below which includes important information about CLE credit, time and computer limitations, written materials, PayPal, Promo Code, and more.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does viewing these webinars qualify for CLE credit in California?
Does viewing these webinars qualify for CLE credit outside of California?
What are the time limits for viewing a webinar?
How many computers can be used to view the webinars?
What written materials are offered?
Where is the colour chart re Attacking the Expert’s Opinion?
What is the PayPal process?
Is there a discount for purchasing multiple webinar parts?
What is the Promo Code process?
What is the format of the videos?
Anything “tricky” to be aware of about playing the videos?
Any advice regarding the selection of webinar parts?
What if the viewer has a question about a teaching point?
Does viewing these webinars qualify for CLE credit in California?
“Robert Musante’s Seminars” is an approved CLE provider in California (#2711). Both of these webinars, if all 5 of their respective parts are viewed, are accredited for 6.5 general hours of CLE. (No CLE hours that satisfy the ethics requirement or the elimination of bias requirement are offered in either webinar.)
The amount of credit earned for viewing for any individual part is set out in the selection table that is located at the bottom of the page (one for each webinar) on which the teaching points and trailers are displayed. For example, you will see that Great Adverse Depositions, Part 1 is accredited for 1.5 CLE hours and Attacking the Expert’s Opinion, Part 3 is accredited for 1.0 CLE hour.
California MCLE Rule 2.83 allows for some CLE hours to be acquired through self-study, meaning that their completion need not be verified by an approved provider, as is the case with the viewing of a webinar. You may wish to check whether you have already reached your limit of CLE self-study hours for the current reporting period.
Does viewing these webinars qualify for CLE credit outside of California?
Unknown. Both of these seminars have been presented live in approximately 30 states; on each occasion the host state awarded CLE credit to attendees. However, no representation is made that your viewing of these webinars will satisfy the CLE requirements of your non-California state. It is your responsibility to investigate that issue. (Sorry, there are just too many states, with too many changing regulations, with too much paperwork, with too many fees for us to keep current in any state other than California.)
That said, if some no-big-deal assistance from us can help you obtain CLE credit, we may be willing to offer that assistance. Please obtain our written confirmation of our willingness before you purchase any part of a webinar. We reserve the right to determine for ourselves what constitutes no-big-deal assistance.
What are the time limits for viewing a webinar?
Two separate time limits apply concurrently:
First, once a purchase is made, a 30-day clock begins to run.
For example, if you purchased Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 of Great Adverse Depositions, you would have 30 days to complete the viewing of all three parts. On the 31st day, your webinar ticket would become invalid, even if you had viewed Part 1 and Part 2, but not yet even opened Part 3.
Second, once a part is been opened for its initial viewing, an unlimited number of viewings are allowed over the next 48 hours. (See computer limitation below.) But after those 48 hours have run, your webinar ticket would become invalid for that part. For example, if you purchased Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 of Great Adverse Depositions, once you opened Part 1 for the initial viewing, you would have 48 hours to complete viewing it. The 48-hour clock for Part 2 would not begin to run until it was first opened. Part 3 would also have its own 48-hour clock that began with its first opening. (As explained above, no viewing at all would be possible – on the same webinar ticket – 30 days after the date of the purchase.)
The time remaining with regard to any webinar part is prominently displayed on both the “ticket menu” page and on the “viewing” page.
How many computers can be used to view the webinars?
One computer. Moreover, the same combination of the computer and the browser that first opened a webinar part must be used for all viewings of that particular part. Do not erase a part's "cookie" until you have completed your viewing of that part.
For example, if you first opened Great Adverse Depositions, Part 1 on laptop “A” using Internet Explorer, then you must continue the viewings of Part 1 on laptop “A” using Internet Explorer. That part will not play on a different computer or a different browser. If, on the same webinar ticket, you had also purchased Part 2 and Part 3, you can choose a different combination of computer and browser than that you used to view Part 1.
If you get the message **Computer activation limit exceeded**, just return to the combination of computer and browser that first played the video, and open the video with them. It will play.
What written materials are offered?
The written materials for the 5 parts of Great Adverse Depositions total 69 pages. If you purchase Part 1, for instance, when you use your webinar ticket to open the Part 1 video, a link to the Part 1 materials (a pdf document) will appear immediately below the video. The Part 1 materials consist of pages #1 - 10 and pages #66 - 69.
The written materials for the 5 parts of Attacking the Expert’s Opinion total 46 pages, plus a one-page colour chart. (Obtain below.) If you purchase Part 1, for instance, when you use your webinar ticket to open the Part 1 video, a link to the Part 1 materials (a pdf document) will appear immediately below the video. The Part 1 materials consist of pages #1 - 18 and pages #i - iv. (The written materials for Attacking the Expert’s Pedestal, although briefly referenced in Part 1, are not included with this webinar. One day that seminar too will be available as a webinar.)
The webinar materials are not sold separately, nor do they deserve to be … they are outlines that supplement the webinars, they are not stand-alone, how-to manuals.
And, no, copies of the hundreds of pretty slides so entertainingly used in the webinars are not made available; the live audiences didn’t get them either.
Where is the colour chart re Attacking the Expert’s Opinion?
At the risk of making it sound more clunky than it is, here’s a word map:
Clicking on one of the webinar titles (at the top of this page) takes you to a new page that sets forth the main teaching points and the trailer that are relevant to each of the 5 parts. At the bottom of that page is a selection table that allows you to purchase one or more parts. If you select more than one part, a discount is automatically displayed in the table.
Once you have made your selection(s), click on the prominent “Buy Now” button at the bottom of that page, and you will be connected to PayPal. It can take several seconds for that transition. There, on the left side of that new page, you will see (in the rather cramped space that PayPal provides) the heading “Your order summary” and below that you will see the name of the webinar, the ticket number (GAD###### or AE######), the item(s), and its price(s).
To the right, below the PayPal log in, there is a link “Cancel and return to Robert Musante’s Seminars.” If you want to change your order, click on that link, and you will return to the page with the selection table, the teaching points and the trailers.
If you log into PayPal and complete a purchase, you will be taken for just a few seconds to another PayPal page (for some unknown reason), and then to another page that says at the top “Thanks for your purchase, your ticket is GAD ######” (or AE######)”. Below that you will see “Click here to VIEW VIDEOS.” (The rest is intuitive.)
PayPal will promptly send you an email that confirms your purchase. You will see that the all-important webinar ticket is listed as an item, along with its “cost” ($0.00 USD). Below that the webinar part(s) you purchased will be listed, along with the cost and the amount of any discount.
Is there a discount for purchasing multiple webinar parts?
Yes. In the selection table, progressively click all 5 parts to see the discount offered for purchasing multiple webinar parts. Obviously, you can un-click what you want to un-select.
What is the Promo Code process?
If you have a Promo Code, click on a webinar title above, and you will be taken to the page that has the teaching points and trailers. At the bottom of that page, to the right, you will see a small rectangle with the words “Promo Code” in grey. Enter your Promo Code in that space; then proceed, as set forth above, with the PayPal process.
What is the format of the videos?
The trailers are on YouTube. The webinar parts are formatted in Flash. Thus, the parts will not work on an iPad or an iPhone and they may not work on Internet Explorer 6. Remember to disable any Flash blockers you may have installed such as “Click to Flash”.
Anything “tricky” to be aware of about playing the videos?
Yes, this is not “instant-on” TV, so there are some “tricky” things:
First, if you quickly click on a video to start it playing, you may get a continually spinning semi-circle and a small-font message across the screen that begins, “200, Stream not found …”. The fix is simple: backtrack by clicking on the “WATCH NOW” button; select the desired webinar part again; and wait ten seconds before clicking on the “play” button.
Second, if you want to temporarily pause the playing of the video so that you can use your browser to look at something else on the Web, do not click on the “return” button. Instead, open a new browser window; otherwise when you return to the video, you will discover that the video has to be reloaded. (Based on our experience using this technique, sometimes the video stayed ready to continue from the point at which it was last viewed no matter how long the interruption, and sometimes the video “disappeared” within an hour, thus requiring reloading. It’s a mystery.)
Third, if you were, say, 5 minutes from the end of a video and, for whatever reason, you had to reload the video, expect to wait 10 to 15 minutes - perhaps longer, depending on the speed of your connection - for the loading process to catch up to that 5-minutes-from-the-end spot. We wish you could immediately go to where you had last left off … but that ain’t so, as of now anyway. Sorry.
Any advice regarding the selection of webinar parts?
Yes …
(a) Watching them out of order … not a great idea.
(b) You do not have to watch all of Great Adverse Depositions to learn valuable, take-away insights; the combination of Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 has frequently been presented as a high-quality short version - always garnering excellent reviews. Even watching Part 1 alone is quite worthwhile because it explains and illustrates the crucial logic of deposition cross-examination.
(c) Attacking the Expert’s Opinion, however, is a different story. Watching only Part 1 is not advised because approximately half of it is devoted to introducing the one-off case facts/contentions that serve as examples of classic lines of cross-examination that are relevant to every expert in every case for the rest of time (really!) … which classic lines of attack are analyzed and illustrated in Part 2 through Part 5 of the webinar.
What if the viewer has a question about a teaching point?
If you have questions about - or challenges to - any teaching point, send them to musante@killerdepo.com. You will always be sent a response, maybe even a good answer. Please put the word “webinar” in the subject line so that your legitimate email can more easily be distinguished from the daily tidal wave of spam.
If you want assistance in applying the teaching points to the unique facts of your case, then consider scheduling a satisfaction-guaranteed telephone tutorial … otherwise please don’t expect that the interesting (to you, anyway) case facts included in your email will be read, let alone analyzed. Sorry, there just isn’t time for that type of free feedback.