What is there to say. They Came. We Saw. They Conquered.
David Ball and Don Keenan put on The Reptile seminar this past week in Seattle.
You all know by now how fidgety, impatient, bored I get. Well, two consecutive days from 8:30 to 5:00, I stayed put. Absolutely enchanted. It was a record.
Read MoreSome of the richest doctors no longer practice medicine. Instead they make up to half a million dollars a year, working for insurance companies. Their assignment: examine injured plaintiffs with a jaundiced eye. Then proclaim they should be cured in 60 to 90 days. Sometimes a little longer.
About five years ago, there was a mean retired neurosurgeon who said a mother was paralyzed and in a wheelchair because she made up the injury in her mind. He called it "hysterical paralysis." Made for a good defense. Of course in reality, she's still paralyzed today. Apparently the hysteria hasn't ended.
Read MoreHead jerks forward. Eyes open. Where the heck am I. Are we still in Minneapolis. Can’t figure out if the plane has taken off. Or is landing. It hasn’t taken off. Thirty minutes later we bounce down in Fargo North Dakota.
Alan the Executive Director of the trial lawyer association has texted me to call him. I do. The airport terminal is clean, new and small. At the landing by the escalator, a big tall blond woman is hugging another big tall blond woman in greeting. They appear to be sisters. Talking in a language that is definitely not English.
Read MoreAn attorney asked me to help try a case a week before trial. Day one I arrived with a notice of appearance. The defense lawyer objected due to "unfair surprise." Overruled.
It was not a complex trial but the defense lawyer struggled. Mightily.
After the good (for us) verdict came in this is what the jurors said. They had a really hard time with how bad the defense lawyer was. They felt very sorry for the defendant for having such a poor lawyer. Closing argument was so awful they could not even "bear to look" at her. They had to make extra sure they didn't rule against the defendant because of counsel. So they tried to even things out. Thankfully they were able to give us a good verdict but this left a permanent impression with me.
Read MoreThe only health condition the defense won't try to spin - is death.
One technique used against plaintiffs, is to paint them as negative whiners. The defense mocks the injured person by saying they are overly focusing on their injury and see the glass as half empty. The logic is - if the person had a better mindset - they would see the glass is half full and everything would be better.
Read MoreWe used to write hundreds of boring (sounding) letters in a case. Now we write hundreds of boring (sounding) emails and the occasional letter.
There is no court rule that says we need to be boring (sounding) when we communicate with opposing counsel.
Read MoreWe can do more than file a lawsuit when a bad driver hurts our clients. We owe it to society to get those drivers off the road.
State licensing departments have simple forms that can be filled out to trigger an investigation. They don't publicize these but they exist.
Read MoreWe are rewarded in school for using sentences so complex, that the reader or listener is virtually tortured by them. As grown up lawyers this means we tend to spout legalese to normal people. How as trial lawyers do we shrug off these intellectual habits. So we can tell a good story.
Look at these tips from C.S. Lewis (he of The Chronicles of Narnia fame). This is taken from a letter he wrote to a young Fan in 1956.
Read MoreYou get in a car wreck. But fortunately have purchased Personal Injury Protection or Medical Pay insurance. So you believe you are fully covered. That is, until the adjuster cuts off your benefits. Usually with the help of a "medical review" sometimes performed by an actual doctor (who never sees or talks to you).
Read MoreThe quest for the best story is front and center as we prepare for trial. Data is all good and well. But stories are the way to connect with real people.
These tips from Kurt Vonnegut may not be exhaustive but they ring true. I've simply substituted the word "juror" for "reader".
Read MoreI had one night to come up with a speech. it was our trial lawyer's annual convention. And I needed to fill in for a sick speaker. That evening on the treadmill the speech came together. Now a decade or so later, here is a blog version of The "P"s.
Read MoreIt's been too long since the last trial. Since the last argument. Since the last fight. The defense lawyers have been well mannered lately. Which is all good and well. But not that exciting.
This deposition excerpt is from a case where dude was on his phone when he ran down my angel client in a cross walk. It was with one of my favorite adversaries. He is hard headed and tenacious. It is fun to bump heads with him. And to do so with a smile.
Read MoreWe are in deposition yet again on this case. Have lost count of how many there have been. Thirty, forty, something like that.
Have spent so much time together, we're kind of like a team. Even though we are all on different sides. There's the gracious court reporter who always has cookies ready for us. Even at 9:00 in the morning. N - my biggest sparring partner. B who passes notes to N but otherwise doesn't speak. W who sometimes chimes in at the end. C isn't with us today. P comes in her stead.
Read More10. Don't like umbrellas
9. Not as easy to lose as a hat
8. Doesn't smoosh hair down like a hat
7. Like versatility of putting it up or down
Read MoreAm in the well seasoned congressman's office. Admiring the family photos on the credenza. He is standing with his daughter who Is in her wedding dress. A proud father. See the photo of the newborn. Sweet. As we get up to leave, shake his hand and congratulate him on becoming a proud grandfather.
He says, I'm the dad. The eldest child is three and we have an infant as well.
Read MoreI wrote this blog then lost the whole blasted thing. Tis sits about how my iPad experience is going. Humbling.
Am deep in the world of free apps. Used Zite to create a magazine of things that interest me. some of which already don't and are destined for the delete key. Now have an alarm clock that tells the weather. My favorite tho is the kissing kitties am going to send them to my girls.
Read MoreI am in DC at an ugly hotel for AAJ. I have made the plunge and decided to leave my laptop at home. This will force me to rely solely upon the iPad that I've been dabbling with since December. Leaving the laptop is like leaving one of my arms. I'm bereft and a little scared.
So far I'm most underwhelmed by typing on this thing. ILife to type fast and as you can see do not have the technique down yet. Actually it's getting better but still is too slow andtoo many mistakes.
Read MoreOn the treadmill. Ipod filling my head with music. Reading the kindle. Overhead a basketball game is on TV. The water from Puget Sound alternates between looking stormy and shimmery as the weather tries to make up its mind.
Am in Zen like happy zoned out place. Have been going for about half an hour. On this chilly Sunday afternoon.
Read MoreTap. Tap. Tap. It is dark out. Grope for the clock. Bring it within two inches of my eyes and squint. 6:00. Which means it is 5:50 since pushed it forward a teeny bit. Just in case there was a day like today. Put it back on nightstand to go back to sleep.
Tap. Tap. Tap. Really drives me nuts when my upstairs neighbor wears shoes. Yes, am still in the condo. Waiting for the house remodel to one day end. Condo is a hundred year old apartment conversion. The old wood floors are beautiful . Dark and glossy. There is just one problem.
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