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The Art of Advocacy
Length: 3:15
The attorney is called upon to assume the tasks of writer, director and actor, but is usually only trained in the rules and procedures of the law. The Art of Advocacy: What Can Lawyers Learn From Actors℠ teaches lawyers how to translate ideas, opinions, research and facts of a trial or other professional presentation into live three-dimensional events. The program demonstrates how to employ the full spectrum of verbal and non-verbal communication skills of the performing artist to connect with jurors, clients and judges to win more cases, create better settlements and generally communicate much more effectively.
Attorneys and actors share a common mission … to create a riveting drama that demands the listener’s attention and directs the listener’s point of view to convince him or her of the story’s desired outcome! Persuasion is the point of every word the actor and the lawyer speaks. A performance comes alive when the actor or lawyer connects deeply with an audience through a masterful command of evocative language, human emotion and skillful pacing … resulting in an ovation for the actor … a decisive WIN for the attorney. Presented in three sessions – webcast attendees view a filmed workshop that offers concrete solutions to courtroom “performance” and presentation challenges.
Alan Blumenfeld
Alan Blumenfeld is a founding partner in ACT of Communication™ and also works as a professional actor in film and television, and on stage. He has made guest appearances in over 200 television shows and feature films (including Cheers, NYPD Blue and Grey’s Anatomy), and scores of films (including Righteous Kill with Al Pacino). His live stage appearances include those in repertory companies around the world such as Berkshire Theatre in Stockbridge, MA, The Globe in Los Angles, Richard Rodgers Theatre in New York and the San Francisco Opera.
Alan holds a B.A. from Sarah Lawrence College and an M.F.A. from American Conservatory Theatre. Additional information about Alan’s theatre work can be found at http://www.alanblumenfeld.com/.
Katherine James
Katherine James, a founding partner of ACT of Communication™, is the author of The Second Best Life In The World – A Witness Preparation Guide To Human Damages, to be released by AAJ Press Book in June 2020. She coaches witnesses and their lawyers to engage, persuade, and motivate jurors and has helped prepare thousands of witnesses for trial. She has taught workshops for Inns of Court, CAALA (Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles), CAOC (Consumer Attorneys of California), the Los Angeles Bar and numerous other legal organizations, private law firms and bar associations. She is recognized as a preeminent leader in preparing lawyers and witness for trial and her widely published articles can be found in the Knowledge Tank on the ACT of Communicationä website.
Katherine is also an active film, television and theatre professional and has appeared in numerous television shows (including Family Ties and L.A. Law) and films (including The Right Stuff and Easy Mark). Her numerous stage appearances with repertory companies include those with American Conservatory Theatre, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts and the San Francisco Opera. Katherine holds a B.F.A. from Illinois Wesleyan University and an M.F.A. from The American Conservatory Theater. Find additional information at www.katherinejamesplays.com.
Andrew Caple-Shaw
Andrew Caple-Shaw is a member of the American Society of Trial Consultants. He is a Magna Cum Laude graduate of Occidental College and former Rhodes Scholar Finalist. Andrew became a licensed attorney in the state of Tennessee after completing law school in less than two years, during which time he was a National Champion trial advocate, working actor, and elected leader of the television and film performers union, SAG-AFTRA. He is currently the Vice President of SAG-AFTRA Nashville and has held numerous national and local offices with the organization over the last two decades.
In 2012 he began teaching at the law school level as an adjunct, experiment with his acting-based approach to trial skills teaching, which he developed around Sanford Meisner’s principles of emotional listening. The results were beyond his wildest expectations, garnering numerous awards and widespread recognition. As his advocacy teaching reputation grew, Andrew joined the ACT team. He has been working with them for the past several years teaching in firms and attorney association when he is not preparing lawyers and witnesses for trial. Andrew has conducted sessions with law firms, trial colleges and associations of attorneys including: New Jersey Association for Justice, Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association, Kentucky Justice Association, Mississippi Trial Lawyers, the Western Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers Association, and countless others.
As a professional actor for over 28 years, Andrew started out as a regional and touring theater performer before later transitioning into film and television. He has appeared on television shows such as NCIS and THE WEST WING, worked with Academy Award winning actors and directors, and was admitted into the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in his early 20s. Andrew is trained in a variety of classical and contemporary acting techniques ranging from Shakespeare to more advanced “method” approaches.
Act of Communications
ACT OF COMMUNICATION™ (Producer), founded in 1977 and based in Culver City, California, is the premier trial consulting firm specializing in courtroom communications. Nationally recognized for its excellent consulting work with lawyers and witnesses on a range of cases, including Business Litigation, Criminal Personal Injury, Medical Malpractice, Product Liability and Employment, the company has set a new standard as an innovator in legal and trial consulting. Company founders, Alan Blumenfeld and Katherine James, are experts in learning and education theory, as well as the study of human behavior - how people learn, how they process information and how they deliberate. As working professionals in film, television and theatre, they specialize in teaching communication skills based in the discipline of theatre. They teach precise theatrical techniques lawyers can use to optimize results in witness preparation, depositions and negotiation conferences, trial strategy, judge and juror communications, opening and closing statements, mediation, arbitration and other professional appearances and settings.
Katherine and Alan have trained more than 40,000 lawyers through their programs and workshops, using theatre training as a model for courtroom success. Their clients include law firms and legal departments around the country, and they have been a part of teams that have brought more than 2,000 cases to trial. They have also served as faculty at various trial colleges, universities, and law schools, including NITA, ALI-ABA, The Defense Research Institute, Attorneys General Advocacy Institute, USC Law School, Harvard Law School and Georgetown Law School. Their professional memberships include the American Society of Trial Consultants and they are founding members of the American Association for Justice’s (AAJ) Ultimate College. For more information on Katherine James, Alan Blumenfeld, and their programs, visit https://actofcommunication.com/
Anna Marie Thatcher
ANNA MARIE THATCHER is the Owner and Managing Producer for Periaktos Productions and is the producer of all of their CLE Theatre programs and movies. She is an attorney and has worked for forty-five years with artists and visual and performing arts organizations as an arts consultant, producer and director. She is the co-author, producer and director of Clarence Darrow: Crimes, Causes and the Courtroom, Maxims, Monarchy and Sir Thomas More and Impeach Justice Douglas!, the live CLE Theatre programs and CLE movies of the same titles presented by Periaktos Productions. She is the co-author of the script for their stage production and movie version of Thurgood Marshall’s Coming!
Anna Marie is a licensed member of the Minnesota Bar and continues to work with artists and nonprofit arts organizations She holds a B.A. from Dakota Wesleyan University (Mitchell, SD), an M.A. in Theatre from the University of South Dakota, and a J.D. from Hamline University School of Law (St. Paul, Minnesota). She is a member of the ABA, the Minnesota Bar Association and ACLEA (Association of Continuing Legal Education) and is listed in Who's Who in American Law. Anna Marie also serves as volunteer for non-profit organizations with formation and tax exemption issues and serves on the Advisory Board of the Black Hills Film Festival. She served for 20 years on the Board of the Black Hills Playhouse Alumni Association as its president, initiating and managing several major projects over that time to raise funds for the Playhouse. She continues to produce independent CLE programs and theatrical productions and makes her home in the Black Hills of South Dakota.
