“The Velvet Hammer” Blog

Should the dead person have been allowed to tell the story

I told my kids a lot of stories when they were little. Pictures were good and well. But what they really liked was when I acted out the characters.

In trial opening is the opportunity to tell the story. There are no rules that say we need to read it and be boring. Over the years I have ben a bus, a cross walk, and other various objects or people when I've told the opening story. But look what happened in this case. The judge was not used to having a story told with quite as much dramatic flair.

Karen KoehlerJune 14, 2012judge, jury, objections, opening statement, trial diaries

The last class

The last class

The teams are putting on the final trial. It is our last class of the year. The seventh year Bill Bailey and I have taught trial advocacy together at the UW. (He's a professor on staff now in the law school)

Rush around all day doing our regular lawyer stuff. Inch along thru rush hour traffic to get to the school by 5:30. Stomachs often rumbling. Sometimes choke down a power bar.

Karen KoehlerJune 12, 2012great people, public speaking, teaching, mentors

Deposition of a defense doctor - 3 months and you're cured part 2

Deposition of a defense doctor - 3 months and you're cured part 2

Remember my defense medical doctor movie. Perhaps you thought it was fictitious. Or at least exaggerated. Because after all it was writen in a huff. Directly after the deposition. Before it was transcribed.

Well, here is the actual transcript. You be the judge. What is funnier (more obnoxious): the movie or the real thing.

Karen KoehlerJune 8, 2012obnoxious defense, deposition, experts, defense medical examiners

How to NOT hit (and injure or kill) a pedestrian

How to NOT hit (and injure or kill) a pedestrian

Here are some tips from cases I've handled on how NOT to run down a pedestrian*.

When the bus you are driving arrives at an intersection. And comes to a stop. And there are pedestrians already on the sidewalk curb getting ready to cross, wait your turn. Let them cross. They were there first. Do not turn your head to look for oncoming traffic and begin to drive forward as they are walking in front of you.

Karen KoehlerMay 31, 2012car accident, personal injury, wrongful death, insurance

All dressed up and nowhere to go

All dressed up and nowhere to go

The clerk sends an email on Thursday. Our trial starts Monday. Or it is supposed to. This case has been scheduled for trial for over a year. But SNAP! Just like that. A criminal case pushes its way past us. This happens in November.

Fast forward. We are now set to start the same trial June 4. After a six month delay. Everyone is ready to go. Some of the witnesses have booked flights and hotels. But wait. SNAP! Just like that. We are bumped again. By another criminal case. We are now supposed to start this whole thing over again in October. Supposedly.

Karen KoehlerMay 29, 2012clerk, lawyer life, nala the brittany spaniel, legal scheduling, lawyer office

Deposition of a defense doctor - the movie

Deposition of a defense doctor - the movie

Witnesses who make up crap - make my day. Especially when they are defense doctors. This one was so obnoxious that I made a movie in her honor.

Here is the set up.

A guy is careless. Because of his carelessness, your head strikes an object. Your neck hyper extends backwards. You have never gone to the doctor for neck pain. But after this happens, you have problems right away. Your neck doesn't only hurt - it radiates pain down your arm and your hand is numb.

Karen KoehlerMay 24, 2012obnoxious defense, experts, deposition, defense medical examiners

Up Close and Personal with The Reptile

Up Close and Personal with The Reptile

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.

Karen KoehlerMay 21, 2012great people, lawyer seminar, lawyers have fun

Form of the day: Defense Medical Exam Agreement

Form of the day: Defense Medical Exam Agreement

Some 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.

Karen KoehlerMay 17, 2012mentors, obnoxious defense, defense medical examiners

Fargo - Yah

Fargo - Yah

Head 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.

Karen KoehlerMay 12, 2012traveling lawyer, lawyer schedule, lawyer seminar, lawyer convention

Ten reasons I'd rather try a case against a good lawyer

Ten reasons I'd rather try a case against a good lawyer

An 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.

Karen KoehlerMay 7, 2012jury, verdict

Co-opting Ye Old Glass Is Half Full Defense

Co-opting Ye Old Glass Is Half Full Defense

The 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.

Karen KoehlerMay 2, 2012closing argument, obnoxious defense

How to write an unboring letter to opposing counsel

How to write an unboring letter to opposing counsel

We 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.

Karen KoehlerMay 1, 2012writing

How to turn in a bad driver

How to turn in a bad driver

We 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.

Karen KoehlerApril 19, 2012car accident

Tips for attorneys - from a children's novelist

Tips for attorneys - from a children's novelist

We 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.

Karen KoehlerApril 17, 2012writing, public speaking, opening statement, closing argument

Where do these all powerful medical insurance adjusters come from?....

You 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).

Karen KoehlerApril 16, 2012car accident, deposition, insurance, personal injury

People Pose more "P"s. (part 2)

Here are reader's suggestions for more "P"s to add to "The Ps". Lawyers have a pretty intense vocabulary. I had to look up a couple of these.

Karen KoehlerApril 4, 2012inspiration, lawyer life

Take it from Kurt - 8 (no adjective needed) storytelling tips

The 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".

Karen KoehlerApril 3, 2012inspiration, opening statement

The "P"s

The "P"s

I 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.

Karen KoehlerApril 2, 2012public speaking, lawyer convention

Naughty. Naughty. Object to the form.

Naughty. Naughty. Object to the form.

It'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.

Karen KoehlerMarch 30, 2012deposition

I like reading your blog ...says the defense lawyer

I like reading your blog ...says the defense lawyer

We 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.

Karen KoehlerMarch 26, 2012deposition, writing