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Georgia Law Review 
Symposium, Volume 47
Evidence Reform: Turning a Grotesque Structure into a Rational Edifice?
 

Dean Rusk Center, Walker Boardroom
UGA School of Law
January 18, 2013

Symposium Overview:
In the 1948 case Michelson v. United States, the Supreme Court was urged to adopt a new rule for cross-examinations about prior arrests.  Justice Jackson, writing for the majority, declined the invitation, opining that “to pull one misshapen stone out of the grotesque structure is more likely simply to upset its present balance between adverse interests than to establish a rational edifice.”

In the 65 years since Justice Jackson wrote these words, evidence law has undergone extensive reforms.  But has it evolved? Can it?  Has evidence reform facilitated the pursuit of justice in our courts, or has it simply endeavored to build a rational edifice out of misshapen stones?

When its new Rules of Evidence go into effect on January 1, 2013, Georgia will be the forty-fourth state to adopt a new evidence code modeled on the Federal Rules of Evidence. The Symposium issue of the Georgia Law Review’s 47th volume will celebrate the modernization of Georgia’s evidence code by examining the broader reform movement from which it grew. Contributors will comment on the achievements and shortcomings of evidence reform as they pertain to specific areas of trial work.  By dedicating this year’s Symposium to the topic, the Review hopes to provide a forum for discussion and debate about the past, present, and future of evidence law.

The Symposium is sponsored by the University of Georgia School of Law and the Georgia Law Review.

Symposium Agenda:

Panel 1: Trial Practice

Questions Presented: Has evidence reform achieved a fairer trial? Has it stream-lined the trial? What is the future of the trial? Has evidence reform promoted the presentation of coherent narratives at trial?

• Professor Daniel Blinka, Marquette University Law School
• Professor Robert Burns, Northwestern University Law School
• Moderator, Professor Erica Hashimoto,University of Georgia School of Law

Panel 2:  The Pursuit of Truth

Questions Presented: Is there a moral foundation to evidence law? Does it compel the pursuit of truth? Has the goal of evidence reform been to obfuscate or clarify the truth? Are exclusionary rules and privileges incompatible with truth-seeking? Has the liberalization of evidence rules brought us closer to exposing “truth” at trial?

• Professor Keith Findley, University of Wisconsin
• Professor Paul Milich, Georgia State University School of Law
• Professor Michael Risinger, Seton Hall University Law School
• Moderator, Professor Andrea Dennis, University of Georgia School of Law

Panel 3:  Science in the Courtroom

Questions Presented: Has Federal Rule 702 established a workable standard for expert testimony? How should experts in emerging sciences like voice spectrography be qualified? Do the Daubert and Kumho standards ensure reliability?

• Professor Ronald Carlson, University of Georgia School of Law
• Professor Edward Imwinkelried, University of California, Davis Law School
• Professor Julie Seaman, Emory University School of Law
• Moderator, Professor Julian Cook, University of Georgia School of Law

Symposium Schedule:

8:00 – 9:00      Continental Breakfast and Registration

9:00 – 9:15      Welcome, GLR Staff

9:15 – 9:30      Opening Remarks, Dean Rebecca H. White

9:30- 10:15      Keynote: Ray Persons, King & Spalding LLP

10:30 – 12:00  Trial Practice Panel

12:00 – 12:30   Lunch

12:30 – 2:00    Truth Panel

2:00 – 3:30      Science Panel

3:30 – 3:45      Closing Remarks, GLR Staff

Directions:
Parking will be at the North Campus parking deck on S Jackson St.  Signs will be posted to direct attendees from the deck to the Dean Rusk Center.

From Atlanta, take 85 North to 316 E (exit 106).  Take the GA-10 E to exit 7 (College Station Rd).  Turn left onto College Station Rd.  Turn right on East Campus Rd.  Turn left on Baldwin St.  Turn right on Jackson St.  The parking deck will be on your right.  It will cost money to park.

For a map directing you to the Dean Rusk Center from the North Campus parking deck, click here.

Registration

Pre-registration is no longer open.  

CLE Information

The Symposium has been approved for 4.5 hours of CLE Credit.  The State Bar fee is $5.00/credit, so attorneys seeking CLE credit for attendance should bring a check payable to the State Bar of Georgia CLE in the amount of $22.50, as well as their bar number

We are not able to accept cash or credit cards for fee payment.

Missed it?  View the whole symposium using the following links:

Keynote Address:  http://vimeo.com/ugalaw/review/58468125/df37be6820

Trial Practice Panel: http://vimeo.com/ugalaw/review/58468128/7a7db119ea

Truth Panel: http://vimeo.com/ugalaw/review/58468126/663ac0dd76

Science Panel:http://vimeo.com/ugalaw/review/58468127/ecfd4f652e

Hope to see you at the Georgia Law Review Symposium next year, in the Fall of 2013!

Contact Information:

Please direct any questions about the event to Clare Ellis, Executive Symposium Editor, cellis@uga.edu

Page last updated on 13 February 2012

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