Episode 170 - Examination Techniques: The Reptile Method

In this third installment of our series on examination techniques, Jim Garrity dives into the so-called Reptile Method, developed by jury consultant David Ball and plaintiff’s attorney Don Keenan, and explained in their 2009 book Reptile: The 2009 Manual of the Plaintiff’s Revolution. It's long been a controversial approach because, some say, it's a disguised version of Golden Rule arguments that are generally forbidden in most jurisdictions. But wh ether you’re on the plaintiff side looking to deploy it or the defense side looking to neutralize it, you need to understand how the three-stage sequence works, and where it’s vulnerable. SHOW NOTES (Columbia University law review article on "The Reptile" method) (defense firm blog on the Reptile Theory) (jury consulting firm article on the Reptile Method)

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Episode 170 - Examination Techniques: The Reptile Method is an episode from 10,000 Depositions Later Podcast by Jim Garrity.

This episode is 20:15 long.

This episode was published on Apr 9, 2026.

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