The Litigator’s Guide to Evidentiary Objections and Ethical Advocacy: When to Raise Them, How to Preserve the Record, and What to Avoid

Prof. Ronald J. Rychlak | University of Mississippi School of Law

Ronald J. Rychlak is a Distinguished University Professor and holder of the Jamie L. Whitten Chair in Law and Government at the University of Mississippi School of Law, where he has been on the faculty since 1987. In 2020, he was named the law school’s first-ever Distinguished Professor. His areas of research include criminal law and procedure, gaming law, evidence, and international terrorism. He is the author, co-author, or editor of twelve books and more than 100 articles, and the Congregation for the Causes of Saints at the Vatican called his book, Hitler, the War, and the Pope, “definitive” in its response to charges made against the leader of the Catholic Church during World War II.

• Education & Credentials

Rychlak is a graduate of Wabash College, where he earned his B.A. in economics, cum laude, in 1980, and of Vanderbilt University School of Law, where he received his J.D. in 1983 and was honored with the Order of the Coif. Prior to joining the faculty, he practiced law with Jenner & Block in Chicago and served as a clerk to Judge Harry Wellford of the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.

• Recognition & Leadership

In 2019, Rychlak received the university’s highest research and publication recognition, the “Distinguished Research and Creative Achievement Award,” based upon his reputation for scholarly activity and leadership roles in professional societies. In 2023, he received the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award, the University’s highest award in honor of service, recognizing those who place service to others and the community before oneself while embodying honesty, morality, ethics, integrity, responsibility, determination, courage, and compassion. In 2024, he was voted “Outstanding Law Professor” by the student body. He is also past-president of the Southeastern Association of Law Schools.

• Professional Involvement

For thirteen years, Rychlak served as the law school’s Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, and since 2007 he has served as the university’s Faculty Athletic Representative and chair of the University’s standing committee on Intercollegiate Athletics. Since 2000, he has served as legal advisor to the Holy See’s mission to the United Nations. He is secretary of the Executive Committee of the Southeastern Conference and serves on the Standing University Committee on Athletic Compliance, which he chaired for almost ten years. He chairs the Mississippi Advisory Committee to the U.S. Civil Rights Commission and is a member of the Mississippi Supreme Court’s Criminal Law Reform Committee. He serves on the editorial boards of The Gaming Law Review and Cluny Media, and on advisory boards for Ave Maria Law School, the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, The Catholic Bar Association, and the Society of Catholic Social Scientists. He is also a member of the Order of Merlin Shield in the International Brotherhood of Magicians.

• Experience

Rychlak’s scholarship has been published in the Notre Dame Law Review, UCLA Law Review, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and numerous other periodicals and journals. His media appearances include CNN, ABC, Fox News, National Geographic TV, The Military Channel, PBS radio, Coast to Coast with George Noory, and C-SPAN, among others.

Richard D. Friedman | University of Michigan Law School

Richard D. Friedman is the Alene and Allan F. Smith Professor of Law at the University of Michigan Law School and an expert on evidence and U.S. Supreme Court history. He is also one of a few scholars developing a new field that examines sports and games as legal systems. His scholarly work spans evidence, civil procedure, constitutional law and history, and the rules of games.

• Education & Credentials

Friedman earned a B.A. and a J.D. from Harvard, where he was an editor of the Harvard Law Review, and a D.Phil. in modern history from Oxford University. He clerked for Chief Judge Irving R. Kaufman of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, after which he practiced law in New York City. He joined the Michigan Law faculty in 1988 from Cardozo Law School.

• Recognition & Leadership

Friedman is a 2010 recipient of the Patriot Award from the Washtenaw County Bar Association and the 2023 recipient of the John Henry Wigmore Award for Lifetime Achievement, presented by the Association of American Law Schools. In Crawford v. Washington, 541 U.S. 36 (2004), the U.S. Supreme Court radically transformed the law governing the right of an accused to “be confronted with the witnesses against him” by adopting a “testimonial” approach, which Friedman had long advocated.

• Professional Involvement

Friedman is the general editor of The New Wigmore, a multivolume treatise on evidence. He maintains the Confrontation Blog to comment on related issues and developments, and he has successfully argued two follow-up cases, Hammon v. Indiana and Briscoe v. Virginia, in the Supreme Court.

• Experience

Friedman’s textbook, The Elements of Evidence, is now in its fourth edition, and he is coauthor of Park & Friedman’s Evidence: Cases and Materials, now in its 13th edition, Constitutional Law: Cases and Materials (with Julian Mortenson), and The Jurisprudence of Sport: Sports and Games as Legal Systems (with Mitchell Berman). He has also written many law review articles and essays.

Robert Neary | Kozyak Tropin & Throckmorton

Robert Neary is a Partner at Kozyak Tropin & Throckmorton and a distinguished attorney with extensive experience in complex commercial litigation, class action lawsuits, antitrust law, ERISA, product liability, and consumer protection, among other areas. He represents both plaintiffs and defendants in a diverse array of cases, practicing in both state and federal courts, including trial experience in nationwide class action litigation. With a reputation for excellence in the legal community, Robert is respected by both colleagues and opposing counsel for his legal judgment, litigation strategy, and keen understanding of the intricacies of the law.

• Education & Credentials

Robert earned his J.D. from the University of Miami School of Law, an M.S. from the University of Central Florida, and a B.A. from the University of Central Florida. He is admitted to practice before the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, the Southern District of Florida, the Middle District of Florida, and the Florida Bar.

• Recognition & Leadership

Robert has successfully represented clients in high-stakes disputes and is recognized for his client-focused approach and track record of success. His commitment to the legal profession extends beyond the courtroom, as he actively participates in Florida Bar and American Bar Association committees.

• Professional Involvement

Robert regularly shares his insights and expertise as a speaker on various CLE panels, contributing to the ongoing education of his peers. His recent speaking engagements include panels on Rule 23 strategies following Trump v. Casa, evidentiary objections and ethical advocacy, and Rule 30(b)(6) depositions in class action litigation, along with seminars at Florida Bar Annual Conventions. He is a contributing author of the Class Action Strategy & Practice Guide (Elizabeth J. Cabraser & Jocelyn D. Larkin eds., American Bar Association 2d ed. 2025), a perennial bestseller publication of the American Bar Association.

• Experience

Robert’s litigation experience includes a lead role on over twenty successful nationwide class actions against major mortgage lenders and servicers involving their force-placed insurance practices; representing patients in ERISA litigation against health insurers over the denial of life-saving cancer treatments; representing consumers in vehicle defect cases; nationwide antitrust matters involving algorithmic pricing; representing businesses in breach of contract and tortious interference litigation; and representing a former NFL player against various financial brokers before the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) arbitration panel. His authored publications include works on vetting and preparing putative class representatives, vehicle defect class actions and arbitration trends, and contributions to the Florida Bar Consumer Law Bench Book.

Arthur D. Burger | Jackson & Campbell, P.C.

Arthur D. Burger is Of Counsel at Jackson & Campbell, P.C. and chair of the firm’s Professional Responsibility Practice Group, representing law firms and lawyers in matters related to legal ethics and legal malpractice. A national leader in legal ethics, legal malpractice, and the law governing lawyers, he has been representing prominent law firms and lawyers for over two decades.

• Education & Credentials

Burger earned his J.D. from The George Washington University Law School. He is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia and Maryland, and before the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, and the U.S. Supreme Court.

• Recognition & Leadership

Burger has been selected repeatedly as a Best Lawyer® in Ethics and Professional Responsibility by Best Lawyers of America© and as a Super Lawyer® in Professional Liability Defense, and he was named ” Lawyer of the Year” in Washington, D.C. for Ethics and Professional Responsibility Law by Best Lawyers of America® for 2023. He holds an AV Preeminent® rating from Martindale-Hubbell®. In Diamond Resorts v. Newton Group Transfers, LLC, 2022 WL 1642865 (S.D. Fla. 2022), the court found him “more than qualified to give his expert opinion in matters of legal ethics.”

• Professional Involvement

Burger has a deep background in the jurisprudence of ethics law. He was a member of the Editorial Board of the ABA/Bloomberg Law-Lawyers’ Manual on Professional Conduct and is an Adjunct Professor at the Antonin Scalia Law School of George Mason University, teaching a night class in Professional Responsibility. He was a member of the ten-person American Bar Association (ABA) Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility from 2014 to 2017; an elected District of Columbia Bar Delegate to the ABA House of Delegates from 2011 to 2012, where he worked with the ABA Ethics 20/20 Commission; a member of the District of Columbia Bar Legal Ethics Committee from 2003 to 2009; and a member of the District of Columbia Bar Rules of Professional Conduct Review Committee from 1998 to 2004. He has taught numerous District of Columbia Bar continuing legal education courses on legal ethics and has lectured around the country.

• Experience

Burger litigates in the areas of legal malpractice, fiduciary duties, motions to disqualify, internal law firm disputes, Bar disciplinary proceedings, and matters before the Office of Enrollment and Discipline of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. He also serves as outside counsel to law firms and provides guidance regarding potential conflicts of interest and other ethical dilemmas, and serves as an expert witness on legal ethics and the standard of care for lawyers. His speaking and publication record spans legal ethics topics including conflicts of interest, advance waivers, risk management, remote-work ethics, and the ethics of generative AI use by lawyers, presented before audiences such as the ABA National Conference on Professional Responsibility, the District of Columbia Bar, and Legalweek.

SESSION 1 – Evidentiary Objections and Record Preservation | 1:00pm – 3:10pm

Litigators address the foundational rules and strategic considerations for relevance, hearsay, opinion testimony, authentication disputes, and balancing probative value against prejudicial impact.

BREAK | 2:00pm – 2:10pm

Attorneys cover objections at deposition, in limine objections and motions, continuing objections, proper form for offers of proof, and common discovery mistakes creating evidentiary problems.

BREAK | 3:10pm – 3:20pm

SESSION 2 – Ethical Boundaries in Courtroom Objections and Attorney Conduct | 3:20pm – 4:20pm

Attorneys examine discovery compliance, spoliation, privileged communications, witness preparation, false testimony, speaking objections, and the prohibition on asserting personal views.