Cross-Examination CLE for Trial Attorneys: Strategy, Control, and Persuasion

Oct 17, 2025
2 min read

Most attorneys treat cross-examination as a chance to score points. The best trial lawyers treat it as a chance to win the case. This CLE is built around that distinction and the specific skills that separate the two.

Sean Riddell brings a prosecutor's instincts and a trial attorney's precision to this course. A former Oregon Department of Justice attorney, Riddell now represents crime victims, law enforcement officers, and veterans in private practice. He's spent his career in the courtroom, and it shows in how he teaches.

The course opens with the three types of cross-examination, so you can use it to build your case, diffuse testimony that could hurt you, and go after credibility when appropriate. Riddell covers how to expose inconsistencies without tipping your hand, how to control evasive witnesses, and how to stay disciplined when the temptation is to ask one question too many. He also tackles one of the most underappreciated lessons in trial advocacy: why an average witness can beat a great attorney, and what to do about it.

The practical focus here is real. You'll leave with a clear framework for aligning cross-examination with your overall trial strategy, knowing when to push, when to stop, and when you've already won the exchange.

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