Thelma (our receptionist) gives me a manilla envelope. She says - after much sleuthing I figured this out. I don't understand. My name is not on the envelope. Black marker simply says "Jo-Hanna Read."
Jo-Hanna is the only person I've ever known whose name is Jo-Hanna. I'm careful to spell it correctly because it is a very special name. Jo-Hanna is a dear friend of mine. A trial lawyer who champions the rights of those who are abused - usually sexually.
Read MoreBy now you know, I love Oprah. I'm actually in somewhat of a tizzy as we count down her final season. Who will keep me company those late nights on the treadmill. Oh Oprah - I will miss you so.
Here is an excerpt from my trial diary on closing earlier this month. I am also posting the first ten minutes of the argument. I taped this with my flip. It is very funny as my head is completely cut off. You can watch my torso give closing argument.
Read MoreEvery day after trial, I diary the day's events. These are sent privately to members of my attorney listserve groups and friends. There is a trial diary section of the website where the diaries are excerpted. Here's a segment from a trial whose verdict came in today.
Read MoreFor the past two and a half weeks, I was in trial. Just in case a juror might have found this website, for the most part I stopped blogging. Instead, I wrote daily trial diaries. Those were sent to my family, friends and colleagues. They were not posted publicly on the internet.
I think that's the safest way for a trial lawyer to deal with their blog.
Now that trial is over (and yes we did well), I thought you might like to see a few pictures. This was Steve Hay's case. He graciously invited me to try it with him. We had a great time. It is always a pleasure to try a case with a good lawyer. Plus see all those papers. He took care of all that.
Read MoreWe used to call my mom “The Dragon Lady.” I haven’t yet read Amy Chau’s “Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mom.” But hearing the buzz, I can tell there are many mommy similarities.
My mom was a chemical engineer who went to law school after my younger sister Debbie was born. She gave birth to my siblings Susan and Jennifer the first two years and was seven months pregnant with Gregory when she graduated the third year. To this day, her classmates recall that she seemed to always be “sick” and lying down in the black of class.
Read MoreMany of our clients are in great financial distress. They cannot work due to their injuries. Or they don't have enough money to pay for their medical bills (even if they have insurance, it rarely covers extraordinary medical expenses). They become financially desperate and overwhelmed. That is when "legal finance lenders" come sniffing around.
Read MoreI'm on the treadmill watching Oprah. She is interviewing Dr. Oz. Their theme "5 lifesaving numbers." He gives vivid easy to understand verbal answers. He uses a video recreation. He has a demonstrative aid. I like it when he punches the plaque out of the artery. It is really super. Oprah is a phenomenal interviewer. She channels the audience. She “is” the audience in the moment. Her goal is to educate and impress upon the audience, the importance of understanding and following Dr. Oz’s medical advice.
Read More“Objection your Honor – counsel is badgering the witness!” The days of speaking objections during jury trials may well be numbered. Most judges now specifically instruct counsel only to object “as to form." Some judges permit a brief statement of the basis of the objection such as “leading.” Sidebars outside the presence of the jury are used to address the details. The problem with sidebars is that they occur off the record. At the next available recess, make sure to restate the details of the objection on the record.
Read MoreLike the Sheriff of Nottingham Forest, our Attorney General is on quite a crusade. According to him, our poor government is in a big gigantic financial mess and guess who’s to blame – why the trial attorneys of course! They file “abusive lawsuits.” Prey against “vulnerable” taxpayers. Take money from the injured and apparently give it to the democrats.
McKenna hopes that citizens will rise to his Shakespearean cry of “kill all the lawyers.” Ummm. Excuse me. But isn’t McKenna the King of all Washington lawyers…
Read MoreThe front cover of our bar association journal announces a new series: “Raising the Bar: The promise of Civility in Our Profession.”
My skin is crawling and not because I’m a total beast.
I am all in favor of being civil whenever possible. But sometimes it isn’t. At least not for trial lawyers. Our duty is to help our clients get a fair shake. Rules require that we behave. But since when did I need to focus on being kind and gracious to the other side. Especially when they are trying to do bad things.
Read Moree have been waiting all week to go to the very tip top of Whistler Mountain. There is an Inukshuk monument up there. We get off the chairlift and are amazed. It is gorgeous. Spectacular. Imagine a superlative and it applies to the spectacle of the view surrounding us. After taking it all in, we decide how to go down. Alysha wants to go down the face. Cristina is the first to say no. Noelle and Susan follow Cristina. Ed follows us, but takes a look over the cliff and turns back. Alysha looks at me and I can’t say no. (I need to learn how to say no). So off they go and I turn left to follow my middle child.
Read MoreToday we go up down and around the Crystal chair region of Blackcomb. We all make it at least once down through the trees. The snow is pretty much perfect. There's no ice. But we whine a little bit about the visibility and cold.
The best part of the day is seeing the sun and blue sky break out as we turn the corner approaching the Excalibur lift. The worst part is eating our much anticipated take out dinner from Opa the Greek joint. It is awful. We usually go there a few times whenever we come but -we're crossing it off our list. Yuck.
Read MoreIt is a winter snowland. Big soft flakes are floating down in a most romantic fashion. Noelle starts laughing and says – Mom look at your dandruff.
We are at the Snow Goose. Our home for the next week at Whistler.
Mission number one. Unpack the car. We aren’t exactly light packers. Here is what we schlep up the stairs, around the corner, up the stairs into the condo.
Read MoreDoes anyone know the attorneys or parties in this case, intones the judge. I see the hand rise as the clipped, precise voice calls out “Yes!” 1,800,000 million people live in King County in the early 2000s. And there sitting in the box with his bow tie, is Mr. Friedman. Father of one of my best friends since Kindergarten.
Read MoreThe cow’s inflated lungs are humungous - I am four. The brain surgery film makes me a little squeamish - I am in fifth grade. My dad is a professor of biological structure at the U of W and teaches medical students. He doesn’t switch off his professor-ish-ness when he comes home. He dissects the chicken when we are around the dinner table so we can learn about anatomy. I grow up with a fairly clinical understanding of life and death.
Read MoreI finish up at the gym and stop at Metropolitan Market in lower Queen Anne on my way home. Park, rush down the elevator and turn the corner to walk down the stairs. The woman's strong but not demanding voice stops me. Please give me money I'm hungry she says.
Read MoreThe temptation of rebuttal is to make absolutely positively sure the jury is told the right version of the case. To have the last word and correct the defense. But the jury wants to get going. They are ready to start deliberation. They’ve listened to the lawyers for long enough. They don’t want to hear a rehash of what they already have been told.
Read MoreWe probably should read up on the Empire State Building before we get there. But what can be so difficult about going up an elevator. Right.
We walk three blocks and approach it apparently from the side. We see the entrance, but it doesn’t look that big and grand. We begin to walk further but there is a man who says - “Do you want to go up the Empire State Building.” Lesson one. If someone asks you a question out on the streets of New York, and it is not for directions, move on.
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