For the second time in as many years, the U.S. Senate on Tuesday took up an impeachment trial involving Donald Trump. With the focus of proceedings firmly on a Constitutional question—whether a former president can stand trial for impeachment—you might think the day would take on the air of a prolonged appellate argument. Yes, there were moments like that. “I know this is a lot to listen to at once, a lot of words,” said David Schoen, one of the former president’s lawyers in an aside at one point, while arguing a jurisdictional issue.

But then again, impeachment proceedings in the U.S. meld the legal with the political. So, both Trump’s defense team and the House managers who are charged with making the case that Trump incited the mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol last month adopted many of the traditional elements of opening arguments. The Litigation Daily monitored the proceedings with a firm eye on the lawyers and how they presented their cases. Here’s what stood out to us.