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syoshioka99
Joined: 28 Oct 2005
Posts: 185
Location: Korea
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 Posted: Fri Jul 28, 2006 7:46 am Post subject: What is "law actor"? |
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I read a passage which talked about "law actors" in the U.S.
I've never heard of the profession before. Could you please answer the following questions?
(Question)
1. What do "law actors" do?
2. Is it popular in the U.S?
The passage refered to one of the law actors "Dan Flannery". Do you know him?
Satoru
Tochigi, Japan
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CP
Joined: 12 Jun 2006
Posts: 2875
Location: California
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| Posted: Fri Jul 28, 2006 2:20 pm Post subject: |
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I never heard of "law actor," and I wonder whether it is just part of a larger phrase. If Dan Flannery used to act in a particular TV series, then maybe the article was talking about an L.A. Law actor -- "L.A. Law" being the name of the show.
Could you quote the passage so we can try to puzzle it out? Thanks.
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Mister Micawber
Joined: 23 Mar 2006
Posts: 774
Location: Yokohama
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| Posted: Fri Jul 28, 2006 4:06 pm Post subject: |
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DAN FLANNERY seems to be a bit player-- and no LA Law on his filmography.
Yes, more context please, as CP says.
.
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syoshioka99
Joined: 28 Oct 2005
Posts: 185
Location: Korea
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| Posted: Sat Jul 29, 2006 9:42 pm Post subject: this is the passage. |
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| CP wrote: |
I never heard of "law actor," and I wonder whether it is just part of a larger phrase. If Dan Flannery used to act in a particular TV series, then maybe the article was talking about an L.A. Law actor -- "L.A. Law" being the name of the show.
Could you quote the passage so we can try to puzzle it out? Thanks. |
Is there an actor in the court?
Dan Flannery isn�t a doctor, and he doesn�t play one on TV. But the 50-year-old actor does a mean Marcus Welby, M.D., on the witness stand.
Flannery of Chicago is part of a growing phenomenon―professional actors hired to appear at trials to read prepared testimony for witnesses who cannot or will not appear. Lawyers and agents estimate that at least 200 �law actors� earn at least part of their living playing doctors, engineers and accident witnesses in civil trials in Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles and other cities.
The actors say their performances improve the quality of justice by adding spice to expert testimony that often is dull and difficult to understand. But critics say that using actors in court sets the stage for unfairly influencing jurors.
�Even if they stick to the testimony (they�ve been given to read), there�s so much you can do to the meaning of the words just by how you say them,� says Kathleen Clark, who teaches legal ethics at Washington University law school in St. Louis.
�And then there�s the impression they can make by how they�re dressed. It�s cool, but it raises questions,� Clark says.
Law actors got their big break in the 1980s, when states began to follow the federal court practice of permitting doctors in personal injury cases to testify via deposition rather than in person.
The privilege gradually was extended to other types of expert witnesses. But the testimony still had to be read into the trial record by a lawyer, a court reporter or the experts themselves on videotape. |
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CP
Joined: 12 Jun 2006
Posts: 2875
Location: California
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| Posted: Sun Jul 30, 2006 12:24 am Post subject: |
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Well, there you are. The answer is in the passage.
Evidence can go before the court several ways. The witness can be examined live on the witness stand -- the best way. Or the witness's testimony can be videotaped and the video played back in court. Or the witness can give a sworn declaration in writing. Or the witness can be deposed (give a deposition), answering questions under oath, with everything taken down by a court reporter and transcribed into a booklet. The declaration or transcript can then be read into the record in court.
Instead of having the written testimony (declaration or deposition transcript) read out loud by a lawyer, clerk, court reporter, or other person, the judge might allow it to be read by an actor, a professional reader, if you like. That is what this story calls a law actor. The story gives some of the pros and cons of using actors to read the testimony.
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