Book excerpt: Trial Advocacy for the Child Welfare Lawyer: Telling the Story of the Family was a first of its kind publication and gave lawyers working in child welfare court their first real trial skills book five years ago. Thousands of lawyers became more proficient at trial work because of that seminal publication. Now, the Juvenile Law Society (JLS) has made it even better with Trial Advocacy for the Child Welfare Lawyer: Telling the Story of the Family, Second Edition, by Marvin Ventrell and Patrick Furman. Trials, effectively presented, are stories—stories of mothers, fathers, children—stories of the family. Trial Advocacy for the Child Welfare Lawyer, Second Edition teaches you how to present the story of the family from the unique and powerful perspective of each litigant. From nuts and bolts to advanced practice techniques, each trial skill is treated as a mechanism of persuasion. For the Second Edition, JLS Founder and Director Marvin Ventrell teamed up with his long-time trial skills training partner and highly regarded teacher and trial lawyer, Patrick Furman as co-author. Ventrell and Furman expand the nine essential trial skills of the first edition and have added a new chapter on The Child Witness. From case analysis to opening statement, to witness exam to evidentiary foundations, to objections, to closing argument and professionalism and ethics, Trial Advocacy for the Child Welfare Lawyer, Second Edition prepares the lawyer for children, parents, and state agencies to go to court. Reviews The Juvenile Law Society [JLS] has made a profound contribution to the field of child welfare law with this succinct and practical book. It really should be required reading for all lawyers appearing in child welfare court. It is an artful blending of the essentials of trial advocacy with the particulars of child welfare court. This book will empower attorneys to provide improved advocacy for children, parents, and agencies . . . and that, in turn, will lead to better judicial outcomes for our most vulnerable children and their families. —Jennifer L. Renne, Esq., Director, Capacity Building Center for Courts, American Bar Association