100% certainty.

One thing that always intrigues me is cross examination. As a lawyer I can't stand trials. It's not the stress of preparing for trial, because every single case must be assumed to go to litigation. But it's the mental games that you begin to play with yourself. Rather than thinking about everything that I have done, I tend to think about every detail that I haven't thought of yet. I wander if the other side is holding cards that have yet to be dealt. But anyway, enough about my anxieties and back to cross examination. One thing that I personally find as very effective in cross examination is asking the witness if they are 100% certain of X. I think it is rare that anyone can say anything with 100% certainty, so inevitably you can raise at least a modicum of doubt. I think this trick works well in front of a jury, since they are (should) be hanging on every word. A judge has seen it a thousand times over again so he wouldn't be impressed. But I will tell you this with 100% certainty, no one is ever 100% certain of anything:)