California Civil Jury Instruction Companion Handbook, 2015-2016 ed. (Baron) Thomson Reuters

California Civil Jury Instruction Companion Handbook provides jury instructions given in actual trials across the expanse of "real world” civil litigation, followed by commentary by coauthors Justice Elizabeth A. Baron (Ret.) and Judge Judy Holzer Hersher (authorship starts with 2014-2015 edition), as well as some of California's most respected civil litigators. It serves as an invaluable resource for crafting jury instructions that are comprehensible to jurors and that pass muster under California Rule of Court 2.1050 (e).

A companion to the official Judicial Council's published California Civil Jury Instructions (CACI), the handbook contains jury instructions given in virtually all types of civil cases brought in California courts and makes suggestions for improvement in future similar cases. The authors reveal avoidable errors and show how instructions can be added to and rearranged into a logical, comprehensible, useful document for jurors and attorneys in closing argument. Justice Baron and Judge Hersher also include special instructions written by counsel for cases in which there are no or limited CACI instructions and federal cases in which CACI and 9th Circuit Model instructions are combined.

This handbook is valuable for both the experienced and inexperienced trial attorney. The text includes:

• Instructions given in actual cases
• Updated CACI instructions and special verdict forms
• Court-approved special instructions and modifications of CACI instructions along with commentary by seasoned litigators on the impact of the modifications in their cases
• Verdict forms specially drafted for multiple count/party cases
• Trial judge and appellate viewpoints, comments, cautions and sample instructions and verdict forms written by the authors
• Law addressing the timing of jury instruction submissions, supplemental instructions, the completion rule, and general and special verdict forms.