City attorney's office attacks the velvet hammer podcast

In order to protect the integrity of the legal process, an attorney for the City of Seattle, has scoured through The Velvet Hammer podcasts, to find the perfect 38 page exhibit. The issue: Whether attorneys from the Stritmatter Law Firm are capable of being unbiased enough to push the record button during a zoom deposition.

We’ve fought this motion many times (always winning). Three times either the City or State previously tried to prevent us from pushing the record button in zoom depositions. Instead insisting that we needed to hire a professional videographer to do the deed. We pointed out to the Court, that the City and State may have no problem paying $1,000 or more for a videographer on top of a court reporter. But that we, as lawyers for the “little guys” did not have unlimited litigation budgets. Access to justice should not just be for the rich and wealthy. Plus - we have now done hundreds of zoom video depositions and proven that we can push the record button perfectly well.

To win its motion to have us pay a professional to hit the record button, the City attorney’s office scoured through our social media. Which in and of itself is pretty amusing. I mean, these are serious lawyers working for the taxpayers of Seattle. And they are spending their time listening to our podcasts (the one they cite to is episode 18). Then paying hundreds of dollars to have a court reporting firm create a transcript. How droll.

Well what tidbits do they uncover.

Well okay. But there’s several ways to read this. You can sound mean and serious with a strict demeanor and no nonsense, perhaps sinister tone of voice. Or you hear how it sounds in the actual podcast as we laugh and tease and shout at times with glee, talking over one another and having a glorious time. Helping our audience/the public see how fun the practice of even serious law can be.

Here’s another highlight made by the City attorney’s office. The subject: revelation of my not so super secret sauce when writing to a defense lawyer who is being obstructionist or overly obtuse and demanding perhaps in an illogical manner or overly burdensome manner.

Sure the VH podcast is often times irreverent and zany. With topics ranging from “the penis injunction” against an old school rapper to review of a book about female power written by a dominatrix who was also a Taoist monk.

But last time I checked, freedom of speech was alive at least in the State of Washington. And pushing the record button on a zoom call - required the deployment of only one finger.