“The Velvet Hammer” Blog

Capital Mall

Capital Mall

Take two right turns out of the hotel. My breath catches. Am facing the capital building. Smile hugely. Techno music on the ipod. The sun is shining and it is muggy. Negotiate the sidewalks and cross streets. Arrive at the Capital Mall.

Reminds me of the big track around the Tour d'Eiffel. The vast open spaces are great for running. Try to get lost but can’t because the monuments are everywhere. Like giant compass markers. The Washington Monument is the first one in line. It is tall, white, solid, symmetrical. Massively Pristine. Run around it, looking up but decide better keep eyes on the ground. Lots of ruts in the path.

Karen KoehlerMay 25, 2011traveling lawyer, running

Board retreating

Board retreating

Today am on my way to a WSAJ board retreat. In beautiful Suncadia - a relatively new resort that has somehow managed to weather the great recession. It is located on the other side of Snoqualmie pass. A two hour drive. Even with all the trucks and roadwork.

Karen KoehlerMay 24, 2011lawyer convention, traveling lawyer, wsaj

Social Networking Warning Letter Form for Clients

Social Networking Warning Letter Form for Clients

When plaintiffs file lawsuits, the defense insurance companies hunt them down on the internet like criminals.

The plaintiffs' fun, fellowship, and joy of connecting with others through Facebook and Twitter; is instantly smashed to pieces when they find out they are being spied on.

But many people don't know that their harmless wall posts, photos, and video clips, are being amassed into an arsenal to be used against them.

Karen KoehlerMay 18, 2011car accident, personal injury, obnoxious defense

Perpetuating* radiologists' depositions

Perpetuating* radiologists' depositions

Get up at 6:00 am. Have to drive back downtown before heading south. Need a plan "B" in case doctors don't have access to the radiology films. Get ready, feed and quickly walk Nala. Write note to let the girls know she's been fed. Wash bowl of raspberries. Get in car 6:30. Eat bowl of raspberries on the way. Get to office by 7:10, run in undo alarm. Grab computer discs, run out redo alarm. Back in car 7:15.

Karen KoehlerMay 17, 2011deposition, lawyer schedule

Judge talks about voir dire

Judge talks about voir dire

I sent my voir dire booklet to all the judges in our state. Here is the email from one of them.

I just finished reading your SKWC “Voir Dire” article. It was excellent, I learned a lot. Although I believe the MacDonald’s case was from New Mexico and not California.

Karen KoehlerMay 12, 2011judge, voir dire, writing

Deposition of a State expert witness

Deposition of a State expert witness

This is my take on today's deposition of an expert engineer for the state. Actually this is way better than how the real witness performed.

click here. http://youtu.be/juZq059TH1U

Karen KoehlerMay 12, 2011deposition

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