Archive

Just spent a weekend in Lululemon and now it is time to get court ready again.  There have been times over the years where have resented having to figure out what to wear.  Including whether to repeat or not in a long trial.  But dressing up for court is really like putting on a costume for the big show.  There is a stage and audience and what we wear is a part of the whole process.  So for the most part, don’t whine.  Messages are being sent by what we wear in court.

Today’s uber driver is from Romania where everyone crushes grapes in vats at their homes. Some is saved as grape juice for the kids.  The rest is put in a bottle.  In 6 months there is good wine.   Better than you can get at Safeway.  He would like me to use uberXL versus uberX.  The numerous reasons range from the safer more superior status of his SUV to what difference does a few more bucks make if we are all going to die anyway. Drops me off.

Get through security without beeping.  Climb 9 flights.  Enter on the dot at 8:30 as ordered by the court so we can address pretrial matters.  8:45 Mr. Ulmer announced her honor will be arriving in 7 minutes.  Her bus has been delayed again.  She arrives.

Walk into courtroom with Alysha.  Most of law firm family have come to watch.  Clients many with co-counsel have arrived.  Some from around the world.    Press is establishing base camp in the rear.  As the minutes approach 9 the room fills. 

Put bags on the table.  Step out of tennies and into heels.  Walk behind 85” tv that is in front right corner of the room.  Breathe in and out.  Kevin the court reporter is setting up.  He says are you trying to avoid all the people.  Nod at him.  Smile.  Find center.

Judge Shaffer enters just before 9.  Jury comes in.  Sits.  Instructions are read.  Judge says:  now please turn your attention to the plaintiff for opening statement.

Two weeks after Liam is born we start the Ride the Ducks Aurora Bridge trial. In the months leading up to the trial stop writing or discussing the case publicly. This includes to the media, to social media, to this blog.

The jurors will be instructed not to read, watch, or listen to anything about this case. They will not be reading this blog for example. So it is not quite clear how pretrial publicity especially in a civil case can be prejudicial if the lawyers talk to the media which the jurors will not be reading. Rather than debate the issue look to The Rules of Professional Conduct (RPC) 3.6.

September 12, 2018

12.44 am Complete another deposition designation.

1:30 Conk out

7:00 Wake up. Today is marked off as a day I will not be working.

7:30 Return to computer on kitchen table and work. Massive trial paperwork deadlines due tomorrow.

9:00 Go for run with Nala because it is the only time that will be possible.

The courtroom is filled with black and gray suits.  Andrew is fiddling with the projector.  Camera person sets up.  Reporter sits down.  I pull out my computer.  Get it ready.  The projector is a no go - but we've brought our own.   Andrew switches them out.  I plug in my computer.   Mess around with the clicker.  Battery works.  But the back won't close.  Ah. There it goes.

Click back and forth on a few slides. Works.  Look up.  Turn toward the back of the courtroom and see Cristina and Alysha.  They've come to watch.  

(a) A lawyer who is participating or has participated in the investigation or litigation of a matter shall not make an extrajudicial statement that the lawyer knows or reasonably should know will be disseminated by means of public communication and will have a substantial likelihood of materially prejudicing an adjudicative proceeding in the matter. (b) Notwithstanding paragraph (a), a lawyer may state:

The defense counsel writes to the Judge that I have displayed “histrionics and inflammatory rhetoric” in my legal argument.

Dear mom.  How's heaven.  

I was in the newspaper today.  You would have been delighted.  You always enjoyed bad news more than the good.   

Once upon a time there was a lawyer who believed strongly in her clients' case.  She fought hard.  On the other side of the case was a defense lawyer she'd never met before.  He didn't like her.  He tried to bully her. 

Defense counsel and I walk up to the Taney County Courthouse in Missouri.  There is a red sign in the middle of the entrance door that says no cell phones or other electronic devices allowed in building.

uly 10, 2018.  

1:30 pm Nala is stepping on my feet.  She knows what the suitcase means.  Looks mournfully at me as I walk out the door.

I met Shellie 30 years ago when she was pregnant with her eldest daughter.  We were both working at a hideously dysfunctional insurance defense firm. She wisely fled before I did.  

My website was old. 

Ten years ago (at age 47 if you must know) finished my stint as President of the Washington State Trial Lawyers Association.  Our organization had helped the citizens of our state survive two consecutive initiative battles - caps on medical negligence damages and a roll back of the Insurance Fair Conduct Act.  We were bashed by the insurance industry in the process via millions in TV ads. 

Took on the small personal mission of sharing the inner workings of life as a plaintiff lawyer.  Hoping that through transparency, others might see that lawyers were real people too. 

1. Walks in and is already flustered.

2. Doesn’t ask your client how they are doing.

3. Isn’t familiar with the details of your clients’ injuries

The full complaint for Greene vs. Nelly can be viewed here.

Good Afternoon,

Our office has formally declined to file charges on this matter.

The following statement will be released if there are inquiries on the status of the case...

Under Washington law, wrongful death actions are strictly governed by statute.  Atchison v. Great W. Malting Co., 161 Wn.2d 372 (2007).  When the death of a person is caused by the wrongful act of another, the decedent's personal representative may maintain an action for damages.  RCW 4.20.010.

PDF version:To Whom It May Concern Part 2

This is the full text of the amended complaint adding the City of Seattle as a defendant in the civil rights/wrongful death case involving the shooting of Charleena Lyles by the Seattle Police Department June 18, 2017.

Amended Complaint FINAL 101217

On October 9, 2017, the above letter was delivered to the investigating Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorneys, Criminal Division, of the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office.

I am looking at the Medical Examiner's chart.  She has been shot 7 times.  7 pieces of metal are either in or have gone through her small body.  The same height as mine. But more slender.  Her face is beautiful.  It was spared.  They aimed at her middle.

I count the bullet holes on the front of the body diagram.  Then on the back.  There are more than 7 holes.  Some bullets count for 2 holes each.  In. Out.

Sometimes my job is sickening.   I get the whole idea of defense lawyers attacking my clients in order to make sure they are telling the truth.  But what I can never get used to are the grotesque tactical maneuvers used by some defense lawyers to save an insurance company a buck.

Here are a few excerpts from an argument I made to the Court opposing defense counsel's motion to dismiss a father's claim for the wrongful death of his child.  Before reading this: a) put on a white jacket; b) stand up fully; c) employ wonder woman frown; d) thrust out chin; and e) use extra emphasis when using the word: "repulsive."

Let me count the ways...

1. Answered every question thoughtfully - including if there really was a man in the moon.
2. Gave us puzzles and calendars featuring photos of sperm taken with his electron microscope
3. Tucked us into bed every night.  Then came back to check half an hour later to see if we were really asleep.

Friday
9-10:00 am perform office work with Nala in tow
10:00 – 11:15 teleconference with AAJ committee. Anne takes Nala for a walk and brings her back.
11:15 – 12:30 Meeting with co-counsel and new client who is in full rigid body brace. Nala tries to tip her over.
12:30 – 1:15 Put Nala in car. Head to court but first stop off at Whole Foods Interbay as frig is bare. Pick up fruit.

In its third motion for protective order my least favorite tourism company asks the court yet again to stop the plaintiff from filing motions in the public court file.  Instead they want a special rule that requires us to give them five days notice before we can file a document so they can bring a motion asking the court to seal it or block us.  Kind of like an early warning anti-missile system.  We must tell them before we launch then they try to shoot us down before the paperwork can hit the courthouse file.

Judges don't like it when us attorneys can't stop bickering.  They are irritated by having to deal with our exchanges of snipes, digs and downright insults.

Last month after a trial ended, two jurors followed me down to the courthouse lobby.  They wanted to talk about what happened.  Both commented on how impressed they were that the attorneys acted in a civil manner.  Sure we disagreed with each other and objected and there were tense moments.  But we were not overly disrespectful like the lawyers they saw on television.  They appreciated that.

A tree branch scratched the lower part of my left upper arm last summer when I capsized a kayak.  The wound stung.  Swelled into a welt.  But didn't bleed.  Almost a year later there is definitely a scar still there.  My real skin is getting thinner with age.  My mental skin is not.

After Thanksgiving, my brother sisters and I decide to sort through the few remaining boxes of mom's things.  The contents of two storage units and a condo have been reduced to a pile of certificates, photos, and little treasures.  We are at Greg and Laurie's craftsman house.  Sitting around the living room.  Creating our respective piles.

A few days before Thanksgiving a defendant corporation sends me the report of its expert accountant.  This person's job is to place a value on the life of a two and a half year old child who has died as the result of the negligence of others.

In our state the way we decide the "value" of loss of life under such circumstances is to project what the child would have grown up and earned during her life time.  Less what the child would have consumed.  The amount that is left over is called "net accumulations" and this cold calculation = value of the life lost.