Presenting and Objecting to Evidence in Legal Proceedings: Evidence Basics, Pre-Trial Motions, Expert Testimony, and Presentation (2026 Edition)

Josh Gardner, Partner | DLA Piper

Josh Gardner is a first-chair trial attorney who has practiced at the intersection of law and public policy across five administrations for more than two decades in the US Department of Justice and private practice. He has successfully led multiple trial teams through more than a dozen bench and jury trials, including some of the most consequential cases involving the federal government, and has provided strategic counsel and guidance to the White House and federal agencies in high-profile litigation and congressional investigations. He has prepared multiple witnesses for congressional testimony and represented high-level officials in numerous transcribed interviews and depositions on the Hill. Josh has extensive experience defending depositions on behalf of cabinet and sub-cabinet agency officials in federal court cases, has argued dozens of dispositive and discovery motions, and has extensive experience working with expert witnesses. He is recognized for training and developing successful trial teams and is based in DLA Piper’s Washington, DC office.

• Education & Credentials

Josh earned his J.D. from The George Washington University Law School and his B.A. from the University of Central Florida. He is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia and Florida, and is admitted before the Supreme Court of the United States, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and the United States Court of Federal Claims. He served as a law clerk to the Honorable Justice Barbara J. Pariente of the Florida Supreme Court from 2000 to 2002.

• Recognition & Leadership

Josh has been honored with the Presidential Rank Award from the United States Government (2024), Special Commendation Awards from the United States Department of Justice Civil Division (2010, 2024), the Training & Professional Development Award from the United States Department of Justice (2015), an additional Special Commendation Award from the United States Department of Justice (2014), an Honors Award from the United States Department of Agriculture (2011), and the Attorney General’s John Marshall Award for The Trial of Litigation (2007).

• Professional Involvement

Josh serves as a Lecturer on Law at Harvard Law School, co-teaching a course concerning legal and ethical issues relating to government lawyers (2025), and as a Professorial Lecturer in Law at The George Washington University Law School, where he has co-taught one- and two-semester courses to first-year, upper-level, and LLM students, including Pretrial Advocacy, Government Lawyering, and Legal Writing and Oral Advocacy, since 2004. He has served as an instructor and lecturer at The National Advocacy Center since 2008, instructing DOJ lawyers on civil pretrial, trial advocacy, and evidence courses, and is an ongoing trainer for government agencies, United States Attorney’s Offices, and private groups on a variety of litigation-related topics. He also worked with the Advisory Committee on Civil Rules, alongside judges, law professors, and practitioners, on the development of amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

• Experience

Prior to joining DLA Piper, Josh was a senior attorney in the Federal Programs Branch, Civil Division at the United States Department of Justice, where he worked with the White House and virtually every federal agency at all stages of litigation, from counseling and litigation risk assessments before lawsuits had been filed through appeal and post-judgment compliance. He has tried cases in numerous district courts in every circuit in the United States, including service as lead counsel in a First Amendment and Administrative Procedure Act class action brought by two states and several individuals against the White House and numerous federal agencies; lead counsel on behalf of the United States in what was at the time the largest federal government data breach in history, settled for $1.7 million against more than $1 billion in claimed damages; lead trial attorney in multiple trials representing the United States in constitutional challenges to the inclusion of a citizenship question on the 2020 decennial census; co-lead trial counsel in a nine-week class action trial seeking $40 billion in damages brought by AIG shareholders arising from the federal government’s 2008 rescue of AIG; and lead or co-counsel in nine trials concerning billions of dollars in claimed damages brought by nuclear utility companies against the Department of Energy. He has supervised teams of lawyers in employment discrimination litigation under Title VII, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Rehabilitation Act, and other statutes; managed affirmative and defensive litigation implicating significant constitutional and national security issues; served as the Acting Chief of Staff for DOJ’s Office of Legislative Affairs; and worked as a trial attorney in the DOJ Commercial Litigation Branch, handling numerous trials seeking millions of dollars in damages. Prior to the DOJ, he worked as an associate at a major Am Law 100 international law firm.

William F. Kiniry III, Attorney | DLA Piper

Bill Kiniry is engaged in a broad-based litigation practice focused on product liability, internal investigations, and Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) litigation, based in DLA Piper’s Baltimore office. He has first chair trial experience with automotive product liability litigation, particularly warranty litigation where he has appeared in nearly every court in the State of Maryland. His practice centers on the preparation, trial, and appeal of civil litigation cases, including conducting internal investigations that reconstruct and explicate the “company story” with respect to involvement with legacy products such as asbestos, representing a major health care system and its practitioners in a variety of contexts, representing major pharmaceutical manufacturers and manufacturers and distributors of automobiles and heavy construction equipment in the product liability context, and representing numerous companies with respect to benefits disputes and alleged violations of ERISA. He defends plans, fiduciaries, and companies against claims of breach of fiduciary duty, vesting and funding violation disputes, withdrawal liability disputes, and disputes regarding welfare and pension benefits subject to ERISA, and has extensive experience with multi-employer plans, particularly on delinquent contribution and withdrawal liability litigation.

• Education & Credentials

Bill earned his J.D. from the University of Baltimore School of Law and his B.A. in Political Science from Saint Joseph’s University. He is admitted to practice in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Washington, and is admitted before the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

• Recognition & Leadership

Bill was the recipient of the 2025 Distinguished Maryland Pro Bono Service Award, issued by the Maryland Pro Bono Resource Center and presented by District Court of Maryland Chief Justice John P. Morrissey to an individual who has distinguished themself as an exemplar of pro bono service, going above and beyond the average pro bono commitment either over a period of time or through extended service in a complex matter or case. He serves as a Commissioner on the Maryland Access to Justice Commission, a nonprofit organization committed to advancing access to the civil justice system for all Marylanders, where he workshops ideas for advancing civil justice and has created a joint partnership project between the Commission and the Firm to research and identify areas in which non-attorneys can advocate for Maryland residents.

• Professional Involvement

Bill serves as Chair of the Environmental/Toxic Torts Subcommittee of the American Bar Association (2025 – present), Commissioner on the Maryland Access to Justice Commission (2023 – present), Co-chair of the Maryland Chapter of the Wills for Heroes Foundation (2016 – present), and previously served as Co-chair of the Pro Bono Committee of the Young Lawyers’ Section of the Maryland State Bar Association (2016 – 2024). He is an Eagle Scout who also serves as an Assistant Scoutmaster at the troop level within the Boy Scouts of America (2008 – present), and he is a member of the Defense Research Institute, the American Bar Association, the Maryland Bar Association, and the Baltimore City Bar Association. His bylines include co-authorship of “Five Tips for Litigators: Collecting Plaintiffs’ Social Media” (American Bar Association, July 24, 2023) and “FDA’s Recent Guidance on Real-World Evidence and the Potential Impact for Mass Tort Litigation” (American Bar Association, April 14, 2022). He has presented “Personal Injury Damages: Addressing Pain and Suffering, Pre-Impact Damages, Conscious Suffering Before Death” (Strafford Webinars, April 8, 2025); served as a panelist on “Get Your ERISA Litigation On!” (American Bar Association, February 21, 2025); and presented “Ensuring Prior Bad Acts Come Into Evidence In Personal Injury Cases: Strategies For Plaintiffs and Defendants” (Strafford Webinars, May 1, 2024).

• Experience

Bill represents clients in various pro bono matters, providing legal advice relating to intellectual property, contracts, business formation, and estate planning, and is an active participant in the Baltimore office’s signature project, Empowering Students and Families, where he has represented the parents of disabled students with regard to the students’ educational rights. He has also represented clients in adoption, child support, child visitation, and estate-planning matters, and as Co-chair of the Maryland Chapter of the Wills for Heroes Foundation, he volunteers his time drafting Wills, Powers of Attorney, and Advanced Medical Directives for emergency first responders in Maryland.

SESSION 1 – Admitting Evidence and Laying Trial Foundations Properly | 1:00pm – 1:20pm

Attorneys learn to lay proper foundations, authenticate exhibits, and overcome hearsay objections to successfully move proof into the trial record under the Federal Rules of Evidence.

SESSION 2 – Excluding Evidence Through Motions in Limine | 1:20pm – 1:40pm

Practitioners gain command of motions in limine and Rule 403 to block prejudicial, unreliable, or unfairly inflammatory material from reaching the factfinder before trial begins.

SESSION 3 – Objection Practice and Preserving Appellate Review Rights | 1:40pm – 2:00pm

Litigators sharpen the timing and delivery of objections, learn to respond under courtroom pressure, and preserve errors on the record for meaningful appellate review.

BREAK | 2:00pm – 2:10pm

SESSION 4 – Expert Examination Under Daubert and Rule 702 | 2:10pm – 2:30pm

Counsel learn to qualify, challenge, and cross-examine expert witnesses under Daubert and Federal Rule 702, controlling which expert opinions reach and persuade the jury.

SESSION 5 – Underlying Materials and Probing Expert Opinion Foundations | 2:30pm – 2:50pm

Attorneys learn to probe the data, documents, and witnesses an expert relied upon to form opinions, exposing weaknesses in methodology and the foundation of expert testimony.

SESSION 6 – Demonstrative Exhibits, Charts, Timelines, and Trial Visuals | 2:50pm – 3:10pm

Practitioners deploy charts, timelines, and visual aids to engage jurors and clarify complex evidence, while remaining within evidentiary limits that protect admissibility and the trial record.