There is nowhere more beautiful than Seattle in the summertime. Decide for once, to remain here and relax rather than go somewhere else for vacation. Have many friends who do this. Watch all their good times on facebook. They explore the city. Stay home and garden. Have friends over. Hang out on the patio.
This is what happens when a trial lawyer decides to take a stay-cation.
Read MoreThe defense lawyer notes the deposition of one of our experts. It is at the end of a work day. So I elect to attend by telephone. This turns out to be a wise decision. Because the court reporter does not show up. Another court reporter has to rush over. This takes 40 minutes.
I pretty much do not complain. Or rub this in the defense lawyer's face since his office arranged everything.
Read MoreThis morning am in a bright red ruffled shirt with the obligatory black. Here is my confession. Want to wear an old favorite pair of heeled Franco Sarto boots. They will look great with the outfit. There is just one catch. You see, they have been up on the back top shelf patiently waiting for me to take them to the repair shop. For over a year. The toes are a bit pointed and the soles have partially rubbed off at the tips. Looking up at them as they hang over the shelf, you can see the white rubbed away part. No holes. Not quite. But still a bit shoddy. Yet they would be perfect. So (and this is the confession part), pull down the boots. Pull out a black magic marker. Scribble all the white away. And presto. The outfit is now complete.
Read MoreWake up from semi-conscious state just in time to glimpse the wreckage of the Korean jetliner still at the airport. Shuffle off the plane. It is 9:30 a.m.
Find limo driver. Follow him to car. He wants to talk. I want to zone out. Good manners kick in. We talk the whole way. He is quite delightful. If we had more time, I could probably recite his family tree for you.
Read MoreBloggers are told one of the best ways to capture audience attention is to use a cool photo.
Yeah. That'll do it. After all a picture is worth a thousand words.
Here's how it plays out. You are surfing the internet. Voila. You see a shiny brand new professionally done photo of a big truck driving down the road. That definitely captures your interest so you click on the photo which is part of a blog that is talking about dangerous trucks. And then by clicking on that blog you end up attached to a lawyer's website. And now you can hire them. Or at least think about hiring them if in the future you get hit by a truck.
Read MoreThe doctor is the defendant. The lesson he has apparently been taught by his lawyers - do not answer questions that they object to. Or at a minimum do your best not to answer those questions.
He has also been taught to look only at the camera and to avoid eye contact with the pesky plaintiff lawyer, i.e. me.
Read MoreMeet The Super Duper Convention Attendee. In this case, Mel Orchard at the Wyoming Trial Lawyers Convention in Laramie.
Read MoreThese are thoughts and feelings of fellow trial lawyers who sent emails following the day after a crappy jury verdict post.
Read MoreThe day after.
Oprah talks about the power that our bad secrets hold over us. The amount of time and energy we spend keeping them hidden. The worrying that others will find out. The feelings of unworthiness that fester from trying to suppress our embarrassments.
Read MoreTrial day 1
Instead of doing her usual acrobatic routine, Nala is curled up around my feet. On the little rug in front of the sink. I glance up at the little crystal clock on the shelf. It says 6:10 which means it is 7:10 since the clocks sprang forward Sunday. Haven’t changed it yet. The mental math keeps me sharp. Or so I tell myself.
Read MoreWake up at 6. Hear Alysha turn off the alarm and leave to teach her yoga class.
Lean down and grab ipad off floor. Check email. Check weather. Turn on Pandora Anthony Hamilton station. Lie there like a slug for another hour. Leisurely get up and out the door. Nala gets around to doing her business after first lunging for an imaginary squirrel.
Read MoreOn the next page they demand all emails for the past six months.
Isn't it ironic that they say "please."
This ladies and gentlemen, is what your friendly neighborhood defense lawyer will slap you with when you file a lawsuit against (in this case) a governmental entity.
Read MoreAm at Burlington for Vermont's annual convention. Todd Schlossberg comes up to the podium to give my introduction. What he does next is the single best introduction I've ever witnessed at a trial lawyer seminar in my whole entire life. Am not exaggerating.
Read MoreGood trial lawyers tell pretty good stories.
Mistrial by Mark Geragos and Pat Harris is a nonfiction book of pretty good short stories tied together with a more lofty agenda: addressing the institutional erosion of the defense of reasonable doubt.
Here are the good things about the book: It is written in a punchy attention grabbing style and the stories are of the sensational variety. Both lawyers know what they're talking about.
Read MoreWhat the heck is a spreecast.
Why so glad you asked. But can't quite explain it to you. Because still not exactly sure.
Mitch Jackson, asks me to do one with him. On voir dire.
Read MoreYesterday night Noelle didn't come home. I worried about her. Even though I figured she was staying at her friend Leda's house. Noelle is 19. Old enough to think that she doesn't have to check in every single minute of the day with me. I have a hard time with that. Cristina and Alysha, her older sisters, know that 19 is not my magic cut off number. Because I still call them and ask where they are every single day as well.
Today am working on two different cases where two kids Noelle's age, didn't come home ever again. Here's the story of one of them.
Read MoreIn this deposition, the defense attorney accuses me of being unprofessional. So what do you think. Was it okay for me to stand up to my client. Or should I have let him continue down his path without interfering. You be the judge.
Read MoreBack when I was an defense lawyer, this is how the firm got business. The partners golfed with, rubbed shoulders at clubs with, went golfing and to four star dinners with insurance and corporate key persons. The firm maintained these relationships and periodically was able to build a new relationship with yet another company. These relationships could last for decades.
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