Michael Sean Quinn, Ph.D, J.D., C.P.C.U., Etc.
2630 Exposition Blvd #115
Austin, Texas 78703
(o) 512-296-2594
(c) 512-656-9759
(Resumes found at
www.michaelseanquinn.com)
1. No proposition that is not a tautology or an analytic truth is probably always true.
2. In different situations, even propositions which appear undeniable may not be true in all situations.
3. General assertions are like that. Even specific assertions can be like that. Situations change. (Is this propositions true of the following: Reservation of right letters are never denials. Or is this an analytic truth?)
4. Analyses of law, in general and in particular, are like the assertions in #3, excluding the example. This is true of case analyses, just as it is for statutes, constitutions, administrative rules, and everything else in the law.
5. Reasonable minds almost certainly adapt to, or change, in some strikingly different situations. When advocates argue different positions at different times, they have not necessarily changed their minds about anything.
6. Asserting a proposition one believes in a certain situation and asserting its opposition in a substantively different situation, is not necessarily inconsistent. Neither one, taken alone or together, entails advocacy.
7. A good expert witness conforms to the last two sentences. The good expert witness must believe what s/he asserts while a witness and not thereby be advocating, the way a lawyer may. However, good expert witnesses can be effective. Effective formulation and methods of assertion do not entail advocacy. The good expert witness must also either have or believe s/he has justification for is being asserted. (Sometimes "justification" is called "basis.")
8. Mistakes always involve being wrong in some way. (This proposition may be an analytic truth.) A mistake is not always a bad thing. A mistake is often a better learning tool than getting something right. Some mistakes, properly appreciated, are very educational. (It is hard to see how this idea "works" in representing a client.)
9. A variation is never identical to that which is being varied. Both of them can be true at the same time. Then again sometimes they are something like contradictory, though probably not completely, given the meaning of "variation."
10. Variations can be small, or they can be large. No total variation can be both small and large at the same time. If one thing is totally a variation on another, then no part of the second will be something other than a variation on the first. (This is probably an analytic truth, even in the post modern age, though the classical easy example, "All bachelors are unmarried male adults," may not be.)
11. Remember, all propositions asserted herein, especially #3 & #7, apply to all elements of this list, except #1 and maybe #5 (depending on the unspecified definition of "expert witness.")
In fact, keep these 11 Commandment whens reading any lawyer writing about anything related to the law.
In fact, keep these 11 Commandment whens reading any lawyer writing about anything related to the law.
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