The Value of Leading Questions
We investigate claims. Whether you are a claims examiner, risk manager, attorney, or private investigator. And, this means that we ask questions for a living.
There are ways to investigate effectively. And, there are ways to do the job badly.
Questioning claimants, employers, witnesses and others involved in a claim is an art, not a science. The longer you do it, the better at it you should become. And everyone can learn to do the job more successfully.
One tip is to learn when and how to ask leading questions. Whether on cross examination at a contested case hearing, while taking a recorded statement, or simply on a phone call with a claimant or a witness, learning how and when to use leading questions can make for a more effective investigation. There is a place for open ended questioning; and there is a time and place to tie the witness down with leading questions. Moreover, leading questions can often be an effective way to begin a statement or a cross-examination. A recent blog post from the Cross-Examination Blog provides the following insight.
To begin (cross-examination) strong you must choose an area in which the witness will agree with you. Preferably, the witness will also want to agree with you. What do I mean “want to”? If you are going to cross-examine a police officer on a defect in his report, you will begin by establishing how careful a report writer the witness is. The witness wants to tell you this.
Face the witness. Smile at the witness. The smile need not be friendly, but it must be polite. Remember, you want this witness to agree with you. You will see British barristers take a superior attitude toward the witness, lofty and disdainful. You will see American lawyers – real or on television – sneering and snarling. Don’t do any of that. With whom will the jury identify in a contest between a witness who is just sitting there and a snarling, sneering, supercilious lawyer? Oh, maybe later, when the jury is brought along to your point of view, you can change mine. But, for now, a polite smile.
The next idea is borrowed from Terry MacCarthy. Actually, all good trial lawyers have done what he suggests, but Terry has refined the technique into a “method.” The idea is this: Don’t ask questions. Make statements with which the witness must agree or suffer impeachment. Most good cross examiners use leading questions.
The post is short, so read the whole thing.
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