Am hob nobbing with senators, representatives, and their aides in the other Washington. Or rather, my friend Maria is talking to them and I periodically smile when they make eye contact. As the morning progresses, must admit. It is rather fatiguing - all this head shaking, hand shaking and smiling.
Read MoreTake 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.
Read MoreWhen 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.
Read MoreGet 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.
Read MoreI 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.
Read MoreThis 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
Read MoreWhen 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.
Read MoreWe 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.
Read MoreI 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."
Read MoreWe'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:
Read MoreWe 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
Read MoreIt 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.
Read MoreYesterday 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.
Read MoreEverything 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).
Read MoreWhat 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.
Read MoreThe "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.”
Read MoreJudge 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).
Read MoreYour 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.
Read MoreThe 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.
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