The Perfect Closing: How to Effectively Give a Closing Argument - 18204

The trial is over, but the closing argument can still make or break your case. Find out what to do and what NOT to do to send the jury into deliberations with the best final impression of your case.

NY: 2.0 Professional Practice
NJ: 2.0 Criminal Trial Prep

Faculty: Ed Sapone & William Petrillo

Edward V. Sapone is the principal of Edward V. Sapone, LLC.  He concentrates his practice on federal and state court white collar criminal defense and securities litigation.

Mr. Sapone was admitted to practice law by the New York State Supreme Court (2nd Dept.), the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second and Third Circuits, and the U.S. District Courts for the Southern, Eastern and Northern Districts of New York, the District of Colorado, and the Western District of Pennsylvania.  He is routinely admitted pro hac vice in various jurisdictions including New Jersey, Puerto Rico, Florida, California, Connecticut, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Colorado, and Ohio.

Mr. Sapone received a B.A. from Fordham University and a Juris Doctor degree cum laude from New York Law School, where he was an editor of the International and Comparative Law Journal, and a Member of Distinction of the Moot Court Association. He completed externships for a justice of the New York State Supreme Court, New York County, and for the Deputy Chief of the Criminal Court Bureau of the Bronx County District Attorney’s Office. Mr. Sapone was also a contributor to the suppression law section of the 1998 Bench Manual, relied upon by New York State trial judges.

He was the recipient of a Citation of Honor by the Hon. Helen M. Marshall, President of the Borough of Queens (2009), aProclamation of Honor by New York State Senator Jose Peralta (2010 and 2014), and a Citation of Honor by New York State Assemblyman Francisco P. Moya (2011), for Mr. Sapone’s legal representation.  Mr. Sapone was also listed in Super Lawyers (2014 and 2015), VerdictSearch’s Top New York Verdicts of 2010, and the National Trial Lawyers’ 2014 Top 100 Trial Lawyers.

Mr. Sapone serves as a faculty member of the National Institute of Trial Advocacy for which he teaches trial techniques at Hofstra Law School.  He teaches advanced trial techniques, white collar criminal defense, and federal practice to other lawyers in Continuing Legal Education seminars in New York and New Jersey.  Having represented CEOs, broker-dealers and other professionals in the securities industry, Mr. Sapone also has been invited to lecture for the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners.

Mr. Sapone has appeared as a legal analyst on CNN, Headline News, Court TV, MSNBC, Fox 5, TRUTV, and Univision, as well as international radio broadcast. He has been a subject of print news and magazines, and his cases have been printed in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg Business Week, Crain’s New York Business, the NACDL Champion, and numerous New York City and local newspapers.

Having been elected by his peers as the President of the New York Criminal Bar Association, Mr. Sapone is serving his first of a two-year term. He is also a member of other legal bar associations, including the Federal Bar Council, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, and the New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

For the last 14 years, Mr. Sapone has been criminal defense council to the Consulate of Mexico in New York, a role by which he has defended many hundreds of indigent criminal defendants and targets in New York and New Jersey.

William Petrillo, a member of the New York Bar since 1995, limits his practice exclusively to the defense of criminal cases. He defends cases in state and federal Court, ranging from minor crimes to the most serious and complex offenses. Many of Mr. Petrillo’s cases have been publicized by every major television network and newspaper, including several that received national recognition. He has procured acquittals in many difficult cases, including high profile trials.

After graduating from St. John’s University, Mr. Petrillo joined the New York City Police Department where he gained valuable life experience as a police officer for six years. He then left the police department to attend the City University of New York School of Law at Queens College. Upon graduating from law school in 1994, Mr. Petrillo became an assistant district attorney at the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office where his career in litigation began. He immediately distinguished himself as a trial attorney and was quickly promoted to the felony trial bureau. Here he was assigned a wide variety of very serious cases and acquired extensive trial experience.

After obtaining invaluable courtroom experience, Mr. Petrillo entered private practice in 1998 when he joined a criminal defense firm. Here, he continued on his path as an active trial lawyer and established himself as the firm’s in house trial counsel. For the next four years Mr. Petrillo continually and successfully tried a wide range of cases in multiple jurisdictions ranging from the most serious and complex cases to minor crimes. In 2002, Mr. Petrillo founded The Law Offices of William S. Petrillo, P.C. He continues to regularly try cases and concentrates exclusively in all aspects of criminal defense in state and federal court. Mr. Petrillo is often referred cases that are trial ready from other attorneys. He is routinely consulted by members of the legal community to advise on trial issues and issues of criminal law, and has been retained by law firms as a consultant to assist their attorneys. Mr. Petrillo is a sought after lecturer who has taught large groups of lawyers and law students on many occasions. Mr. Petrillo is listed in The National Trial Lawyers Top 100 Criminal Defense Trial Lawyers and is a member of The National Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys, The New York State Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys, The New York State Trial Lawyers Association, The Criminal Courts Bar Association of Nassau County, The Nassau County Bar Association and The Former Assistant District Attorney’s Association of Nassau County.