Alan Blumenfeld and Katherine James are founding partners of ACT of Communication, a full service trial consulting firm based in Culver City, California. Mr. Blumenfeld and Ms. James are members of the American Society of Trial Consultants. Over the past 27 years, more than 20,000 attorneys have trained in workshops conducted by their company.

They have been a part of trial teams that have brought more than 700 cases to trial. They have been part of the faculty at various trial colleges, universities and law schools, including: ATLA's Ultimate College (Founding Faculty), NITA, ALI-ABA, The Defense Research Institute, Attorney's General Advocacy Institute, USC Law School, Harvard Law School, Georgetown Law School, and many others.

They have also conducted in-house workshops for dozens of law firms throughout the country.

Mr. Blumenfeld and Ms. James are professional actors who appear regularly in film, TV, and theater throughout the world. They utilize their skills as actors, writers and directors to specifically teach attorneys and their witnesses to be more effective communicators in and out of the courtroom.

Their newest project, What Can Lawyers Learn From Actors? takes their nationally acclaimed workshops and translates them into a beautifully produced and packaged video series with workbooks to maximize the interactive learning experience.
actofcommmunication.com

Eric Oliver is a specialist in implied and nonverbal communication with over 20 years experience. He trains and helps trial attorneys prepare and present more receiver-friendly cases. He helps lawyers build case presentation plans that integrate themes, metaphors, visuals, witness and lawyer performance to meet the spoken and unspoken needs of jurors revealed in focus groups, and voir dire. Mr. Oliver makes extensive use of focus groups when helping prepare cases for trial or for ADR.

The variety of cases Mr. Oliver has experience with include: anti-trust and bad faith; transactions and commercial conflicts; products, pharmaceutical and negligent marketing matters; murder and fraud; aviation; premises security; and a host of personal injury, professional and medical negligence trials. He has trained or spoken to many sections of the ABA and state and local bar associations. He is a regular faculty member of ATLA's National College of Advocacy.

Mr. Oliver is a regular contributor to The Trial Lawyer Journal, and his writings have appeared in TRIAL, and The American Journal of Family Law. He is a co-author of the book, Courtroom Power: Communications Strategies for Trial Lawyers first printed in 1994, co-authored with Paul Lisnek.

Attorneys he has worked with have succeeded with: well-crafted trial themes and presentations; tripling business in one year; precisely predicting settlement amounts from non-verbal cues alone; winning outside counsel work over long-standing, competing "partnerships;" turning hostile depositions into fertile territory; impeaching expert credibility on the stand by nonverbal means alone; helping witnesses go from performing poorly to "beyond expectations" in two days; and setting statewide precedents with novel forms of closing arguments; unprecedented opposition concessions, settlements, and successful verdicts in the first trial of a new area of litigation.
eric@eric-oliver.com

Lisa Blue is a shareholder in the Dallas-based law firm Baron & Budd, P.C. She received her undergraduate degrees from the University of Georgia, her Master's Degree from the University of Virginia, her Ph.D. in counseling psychology from North Texas State University, and her Juris Doctorate from South Texas College of Law.

Ms. Blue's accomplishments in trial courts across the country have earned her honors such as being named one of the "Top 50 Women Litigators in the U.S." by the National Law Journal, "Trial Lawyer of the Year" by the Texas Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates, as well as, receiving the Honorary Barrister Award from the University of Texas Law School in 2004, and the 2004 Distinguished Alumni Award from South Texas College of Law.

Ms. Blue also maintains a private practice as a forensic psychologist and is well known as an expert in jury

selection. She has co-authored numerous recent articles on jury selection, including "The Dos and Don'ts of Jury Questionnaires" (Texas Lawyer), "Make the Most of Your Jury Questionnaire" (TRIAL), "Profile of a Perfect Juror" (Trial Talk), and "How to Pick a Winning Jury" (Champion). Ms. Blue's latest book, co-authored with Robert Hirschhorn, will be published by West in the Fall of 2005: ATLA's Blue Guide to Jury Selection.

Ms. Blue is actively involved in numerous legal and professional organizations, including: American Bar Association, American Board of Trial Advocates, American Psychological Association, Association of Trial Lawyers of America, Dallas Psychological Association, Dallas Trial Lawyers Association, International Academy of Trial Lawyers, State Bar of Texas, Texas Psychological Association, and the Texas Trial Lawyers Association.
baronandbudd.com