Opinion ID: 331254
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Verbal Exchanges with Counsel

Text: 17 Appellants urge that the district court judge committed error or abused his discretion in three instances during the trial and therefore that a new trial should be ordered. In these instances, it is asserted either the trial judge talked counsel out of objections to evidence, which may or may not have been technically correct but for which he saw no strategic purpose, or he insistently encouraged stipulations on issues which he did not consider seriously in dispute. 18 A jurisprudential argument might be made that it is better practice for a trial judge to allow counsel to decide what objections and stipulations to make and confine himself to legal rulings. On the other hand, a practical argument can be made that pressure from the court to settle minor issues is necessary in the interest of litigation time economy. Certainly, a simplification of complex issues would not seem to hinder a quest for the truth. In the context of this lengthy trial, the transcript of which covers in excess of 1800 pages, we find no such abuse of discretion as to require a new trial. In no event should counsel have withdrawn an objection or made a stipulation if he felt the point was critical to his case; he should have explained why it was important. The trial judge's actions were not one-sided; his firm handling of the course of the trial was even-handed and he expressed his views to counsel for both sides at various points during the trial. 19 One of the points raised regarding the conduct of the trial is closely tied to the correctness of the trial court's determination of damages and will be discussed in Part IV.A.4., infra. 20