“The Velvet Hammer” Blog

Witness deposition timelines

Witness deposition timelines

When we study for tests, we make notes. When we prepare for oral argument, we write outlines. There’s something about thinking and writing that helps us better process and remember details.

In deposition, the accepted school of thought says – non-party witnesses should never write anything down when preparing for their testimony. There is no attorney-client relationship. So the notes will be discoverable by the other side. The defense lawyer will study them. The notes will be used against the witness and/or the plaintiff.

Karen KoehlerMay 2, 2011deposition

Judge pounds defense firm

We send out written questions allowed by court rules. We get back pages of objections from the defense. Pages and pages sometimes. This is not only irritating. It is frustrating. Because we tend to sue big corporations, insurance companies and sometimes the government. If they hide things, it makes it difficult to prove a case.

Karen KoehlerMay 2, 2011judge, obnoxious defense

The unreadable face revisited.

The unreadable face revisited.

I wrote about the botox effect in October 2010. Intuition is partially based upon micro-expressions. I worried about being handicapped in trial. What if a juror or witness had been facially frozen. The article concluded: "This all means that I better embrace my wrinkles because I need a jury to believe that I am me."

Karen KoehlerApril 25, 2011lawyer style

Client hero: Lynn Hajnal

Client hero: Lynn Hajnal

We'll never learn exactly what went through the commercial truck driver's mind. He wanted to take a left turn. He was supposed to yield to oncoming traffic. But he didn't.

The front of Lynn's car crushed inwards, breaking her bones and trapping her inside. It took 45 minutes for the fire department to finally extract her. We shared her memories with the jury:

Karen KoehlerApril 21, 2011car accident, client, great people, personal injury

Animated deposition movie by yours truly

We can now add movie director to my bio. Thanks to xtranormal.

If youtube doesn't work, then click here: http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/11828486/

...because I haven't quite figured everything out yet.

karen

Karen KoehlerApril 19, 2011deposition, personal injury

The weekend

The weekend

It is college weekend so Noelle's friends are out of town... visiting colleges I guess. Her sisters are off at their own schools. Leaving just me, Noelle, and Nala of course.

We go to the movies, out to eat, to paint-the-pottery-shop. Watch Beyonce live. Try to dance like her (which is impossible). Start a home improvement project. And basically hang out.

Karen KoehlerApril 17, 2011family

Words of Wisdom for Young Lawyers - Humility

Words of Wisdom for Young Lawyers - Humility

Yesterday a law student from Phoenix asked for this article (written about a decade ago).

Trial Lawyers are often perceived by the public as arrogant and phony. This is because the art of braggadocio is so prevalent and even sometimes necessary in our profession. Behind the show lie those memories that need to be periodically replayed so we don’t buy into the myth of our professional persona.

Karen KoehlerApril 13, 2011mentors, teaching, writing

Flippin' it

Flippin' it

Everything we say can be turned around and used against our clients. Lawyers are trained to analyze fact patterns in terms of logical progression. A leads to B which results in C. We think if we're logical that's good enough. But many of members of the public don't believe a thing lawyers say. According to various polls, we are one step above or below used car salespeople and politicians (no disrespect intended).

Karen KoehlerApril 6, 2011jury

The Yin and Yang Paralegals

The Yin and Yang Paralegals

What do you get when you cross:

A professional D.J. An African endangered species volunteer.

A man who's grown up with the internet and is a whiz at technology. A woman who's yet to meet a person she couldn't charm with her superior people skills.

Karen KoehlerApril 6, 2011best paralegal, lawyer office

The Fragile Egg Plaintiff (and a bad poem)

The "thin skull" or "egg shell" plaintiff stems from this English case.

“If a man is negligently run over or otherwise negligently injured in his body, it is no answer to the sufferer’s claim for damage that he would have suffered less injury, or no injury at all, if he had not had an unusually thin skull or an unusually weak heart.”

Karen KoehlerApril 5, 2011personal injury

Actual Voir Dire Trial Recording

Judge Gonzales' courtroom has electronic sound recording. This excerpt is of the voir dire done in 2010 in a medical malpractice trial. It was described in the first diary entry of the Voir Dire Booklet published in 2010 (also known as the "clicking red pointed nail" entry).

Karen KoehlerApril 4, 2011voir dire

Initial meeting with wrongful death survivors

Initial meeting with wrongful death survivors

Your loved one is killed. You cannot function. You cannot stop crying. You cannot stop thinking about your beloved. Your world seems like it is ending.

On top of this, there is an awareness that someone may have caused this death. Your loved one was killed not because of war or because of an Act of God. Death came too soon because someone did something either negligently or on purpose. And it is not right.

Karen KoehlerApril 4, 2011wrongful death

Civility discussion postscript

Civility discussion postscript

The WSBA declined to publish the emails between Sims and I saying they were not newsworthy. But today these email blogs generated a firestorm of intelligent discussion on my primary email listserv.

Tomorrow I am being dragged to Snohomish County Superior Court by the particularly undelightful defense attorney W.P. He is moving for sanctions against me under CR 37. The reason - because my client's answers to interrogatories were four (4, quatro, 四, quatre) days late.

Karen KoehlerMarch 29, 2011bar association, obnoxious defense

WSBA challenges me to be civil - but can It be? part 3 (the end)

WSBA challenges me to be civil - but can It be? part 3 (the end)

Dear Karen,

It doesn’t matter to me what a lawyer is wearing, I just think we ought to show more respect to one another.

I did answer your question, just not as you phrased it because: (1) as phrased it didn’t make sense to me; and (2) it posed a false choice. Is your point that, on the rarest of occasions—indeed one I have never seen—where the lawyer is faced with a choice between pursuing the client’s best interest on the one hand, and acting civilly on the other, the lawyer should act uncivilly? If so, I suppose I would agree. I just don’t think that happens very often, if ever. I do, however, think that lawyers use that claim as an excuse for uncivilized conduct all the time; I just don’t buy it.

Karen KoehlerMarch 28, 2011bar association, legal profession

WSBA challenges me to be civil - but can It be? part 2

WSBA challenges me to be civil - but can It be? part 2

Dear Karen,

Sarcasm is a good example. Your email is laced with it, but it does not advance your cause. It does, though, increase the friction of the dialogue, unnecessarily so. That is part of my point. As soon as we inject sarcasm, condescension or the like, the discussion gets heated when it really doesn’t need to. If I didn’t know you were just trying to prove a point, I may respond emotionally and attack you on a personal level, and so the downward spiral would begin.

Karen KoehlerMarch 28, 2011writing, bar association, legal profession

WSBA challenges me to be civil - but can It be? part 1

WSBA challenges me to be civil - but can It be? part 1

Dear Sims:

What right does the WSBA have to tell us we need to smile when dealing with opponents. If we aren’t violating the rules for professional conduct by doing something dastardly – like lying – why can’t we be stern. Or down right grumpy. Since when has society wanted attorneys to be nice and friendly as we go off to fight for our clients’ rights. As you can tell, I don’t think much of the WSBA’s new “civility” initiative. I’m a trial attorney. That means I’m a warrior. As long as I behave professionally, it shouldn’t matter if I’m being sweet or not.

Karen KoehlerMarch 28, 2011bar association, legal profession

The great getaway

The great getaway

We are going round the dinner table. Saying what we've liked best about our firm retreat. I'm looking at my seven partners and their wives. Listening to the variety of answers.

What will I remember the most? The fact that I will always have this special memory of us bonding with each other and being together. Our laughter, friendship, and love.

Karen KoehlerMarch 28, 2011friends, lawyer life, lawyers have fun, traveling lawyer

The spinning instructor

Trials don't have to be boring. The best witness is someone who can show as well as tell. In this excerpt from my trial diary, you can see why.

Which brings us to witnesses #28 and 29.

The first owns ProRobics, a health club on Queen Anne that has been around for over three decades. She is extremely svelte and immaculately groomed. She’s been in the industry for 35 years. Mimy (our associate) talks to her about the makeup of the club (40s-60s primarily). The boomers started the health club industry and are expected to continue into their 70s. I like this as our youngest juror is 37. She confirms that plaintiff was a spin instructor for a decade before the crash, and that he could have taught for a lot longer. She sets the stage for our last witness.

Karen KoehlerMarch 22, 2011trial diaries, witness

Change is gonna come

Change is gonna come

The house is quiet. Cristina and Alysha are at college. Noelle is at a sleepover. She starts college next year.

I'm looking through some old photos. There are so many of them. Boxes and boxes. My babies. Little girls. Little women. All of whom are now taller than me.

Karen KoehlerMarch 20, 2011family

Tone it down

Tone it down

Unlike what we see on t.v., silver-tongued, brash, flashy, charismatic lawyers, don't always do well in trial. Jurors assume we have been trained to manipulate and persuade them. They guard themselves against us. By gosh – they aren’t going to fall for those darned lawyer tricks!

The insurance companies have figured this out. Companies like Allstate keep stables of "in-house" lawyers on their payroll. Though some of them are skilled. Most of them are not. But don't take it from me.

Karen KoehlerMarch 13, 2011insurance, voir dire