Drafting a witness statement is not a simple task. This course will help you draft effectively so your statements comply with the CPR and are an accurate and reliable account of each witness’s evidence.
Course Content
Content & Outcomes
Format
Courtroom reconstructions on video, live cross-examinations, group discussions in breakout rooms, redrafting work.
Drafting Witness Statements Live Online Course
3 hours
Lawyers (max 8)
Face-to-Face
This course is for desk-bound litigation lawyers who rarely see the witness statements they draft exposed in the courtroom. By recreating the experience of witnesses, it highlights the techniques used in cross-examination and allows lawyers to practise counteracting them as they draft statements.
Content
- How to recognise statements that include:
- unnecessary evidence
- evidential gaps
- lawyer’s wording
- inconsistency
- uncertainty
- argument
- How advocates take advantage of drafting errors
- How to manage the risks when drafting statements
Outcomes
As a result of attending the course, you will be able to:
- prepare statements that are accurate and fit for purpose
- use the witness’s words and not your own
- protect the witness from avoidable damage in cross-examination
Format
Courtroom reconstructions on video, live cross-examinations, group discussions, redrafting work.
Drafting Witness Statements Face-to-face Course
3 hours
Lawyers (max 8)
E-learning
Witness statements can make the difference between winning and losing a case. They can be a key part of the settlement negotiation process, and if you go to trial, they will stand as evidence in chief and then be subjected to intense scrutiny in cross-examination. So it’s vital that your witness statements are well drafted and can be used as an effective litigation tool. This e-learning course will help you to develop the skills you need.
See the coaching section for details of our follow-up drafting exercise and coaching.
Content
- Purposes – understanding the reasons for writing witness statements
- Structure – selecting the best approach and sequence
- Writing clearly and precisely
- Using the witness’s own words
- Ditching formal language
- Statements of truth
- Exhibits
Outcomes
As a result of this course, you will:
- comply with CPR requirements for witness statements
- draft well-organised statements
- draft clearly and concisely
- use the witness’s words
Format
Practical e-learning based on drafting a witness statement from a real case.
Drafting Witness Statements E-learning Course
30 minutes - 2 hours with drafting exercise
Lawyers and case handlers looking to improve their skills.
£30 + VAT
One-to-one coaching session as a follow-up to the e-learning course. Delegates download an exercise which has notes from an interview. They draft and submit their statement and then receive feedback from a tutor in a Teams call or telephone call.
Content
See e-learning course. The coaching also helps with avoiding common errors like unnecessary evidence, evidential gaps, lawyer’s wording, inconsistency, uncertainty and argument.
Outcomes
Format
One-to-one coaching based on your drafting
Drafting Witness Statements Coaching Course
90 mins
Lawyers and case handlers looking to improve their skills.
Tutors
Testimonials
