On Monday February 27, 2023, I attended the Osgoode Professional Development’s Intensive Trial Advocacy Workshop (“ITAW”) on Advanced Impeachment Techniques. As this was my third session with the ITAW, I was really excited to be back in the hot seat. One thing I will say, however, is that these programs really help you understand the strenuous nature of a court appearance. After 6 hours, I was spent!

I had a lot of fun getting back into character in my return as a volunteer witness in a fictional case involving a bicycle accident on Adelaide street and litigation between a boisterous investment executive and a consultant eager to ‘stick it to’ defendant.

The morning session was led by Heather Laidlaw (Laidlaw Law) and Antonio Di Domenico (Fasken). In this first round of practice, participants confronted me with prior made out of court statements, including an ill-conceived Facebook post. While I tried my best to ‘wriggle free’ the participants did a great job holding me to my statements.

The afternoon session was all about controlling the witness and holding them to prior statements made during examinations for discovery and contradictory statements made during examination-in-chief. We finished the day by addressing omitted statements.

As with all of the previous workshops, the program ended with a Judge’s Panel. In attendance were the Honourable Madam Justice Lucille Shaw of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, the Honourable Justice Clayton J. Conlan of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, and the Honourable Moiz Rahman of the Superior Court.

Justice Conlan suggested litigators look at big picture issues and avoid common mistakes such as a failure to recognize the distinction between impeaching a witness generally and impeaching part of that witness’s testimony. Madam Justice Shaw shared the merits of putting a prior statement to a witness in writing. Justice Conlan also added that the exception that this is unnecessary where what you’re about to ask is very obvious. Finally, Justice Rahman warned of the risks of impeachment on minor points, adding that it could backfire and destroy your own credibility where the minor point is not material to your case.

Big thank you to the organizers of the Osgoode ITAW for inviting WEL Partners to act as a volunteer witness this year. It was and always is a great learning experience! It is no surprise that registration for this program sells out every year. For more information on the ITAW program, visit this website: https://osgoodepd.ca/professional-development/short-courses-and-conferences/44th-annual-intensive-trial-advocacy-workshop-itaw/