Burger elicits testimony from sports journalist George Hale to the effect that Davey Carroll was not a good prizefighter and that decedent Tod Richards may have had an ulterior motive for promoting him. Perry objects and successfully has Hale's testimony stricken on the grounds that Hale was stating a matter of opinion. In a real hearing, the judge would have overruled Perry's objection. US case law assigns the weight of expert witness testimony to journalists testifying in the area of their specialty, and Hale's comments would have been admissible evidence.
As this hearing occurs in a county court for the State of California, state law would apply, as opposed the US law, which would apply had this hearing been in federal court. In state court, as here, opinion testimony from a witness is allowed, but only after the witness has been found to actually be an expert on the subject at hand. Therefore, Perry's objection was properly sustained.
In the first scene, Gary Lockwood is knocked out in the boxing ring and rolls to the ground spread eagle with his 'junk' somewhat exposed. This may have been known and left in considering his boyish grin afterwards. They didn't know about future high definition and slow speed playback back then, as similar things have been discovered in some vintage cartoons.
When Lombard was on the witness stand, he got a signal from someone in the gallery to not answer a question. Lombard refused to answer the question "on the advice of counsel...." Since the person in the gallery obviously was his lawyer, protocol would require the attorney to identify himself to the court and inform the court that he was representing Lombard.
When Lombard meets Tod Richards in the bar of the Lombard Hotel, the waiter brings Lombard his favorite drink, the bellhop takes Lombard's belongings to put in his room, and the desk clerk brings Lombard his mail. Lombard congratulates Richards for the warm welcome. But because Lombard owns the hotel, the employees would already want to cater to the owner and anticipate his needs, and Lombard likely expects such treatment from his employees.