Am wound up tight. Aggressive tendencies barely restrained. Okay, maybe not restrained at all. In full warrior mode.
The defense lawyers haven't been too bad lately. Wish they were bad. Then could have an outlet for this simmering fury.
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Drunks in cars kill. But blame is also shared by the bars that choose to over serve intoxicated customers who get in their cars.
This is the story of three young friends who got in the way of two over served drunks in a car.
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Steve Gursten: I’d like you to consider joining the TAOS group.
K3: What kind of a group is it.
SG: Plaintiff lawyers who have become friends and share advice.
K3: Steve thanks for asking. Honestly, I belong to enough groups.
SG: This is unlike any group you belong to. We are small but geographically diverse. This is a real personal group where we are friends.
She is a stranger who sends me a handwritten letter after having read something about me. I email her back and invite her to lunch. She emails back and accepts. Two months later...
"Hi!" She says with her warm smile, walking into my room. "I love this office. You have great art."
I take her over to chat with Paul Whelan. Tour her through the maze that is our office. Down to the old racket ball court now turned into a courtroom. Out into the cool sunshine. Down and across the street to the Boat Street Café. Where we spend a delightful hour over our tasty baguette sandwiches.
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Based upon a true story:
Last week, my wife of 35 years was driving to the store and was hit by another car. The police came to my house to take me to the hospital to see her. She's been there ever since. We don't think she will make it.
Each day I drive or am driven to the hospital by our children. I stay there as long as I can. I just had surgery myself. So I need to come home to try to rest in between rushing back to be with her.
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Am reading the police report on a new case:
T told me he had a dog in the vehicle. I checked and located a brown lab type dog on the rear passenger floorboard. The dog was not breathing and I could not feel a heartbeat. I asked SFD E31 to check the dog too. there did not appear to be any signs of life in the dog.
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Patience is not always a virtue.
I have walked, trounced, and even skipped out of mediations before they've officially ended. In fact, that used to be the norm for me.
About 15 years ago I was in the car, driving back over the bridge when the phone rang.
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This is the official press release relating to the Owen v. State tree fall claim.
September 5, 2014
**PRESS RELEASE **
Re: Estate of Tim Owen, Estate of Cheryl Owen, Jessica Owen, Jaime Mayer,
Steven Mayer, Jeremy Owen v. State of Washington...
Prologue:
Shellie: I'm addicted to Drop Dead Diva. You were right.
K3: I know - isn't it entertaining.
Shellie: Who would have thought.
K3: It is such a ludicrous concept, but executed so brilliantly.
Shellie: I love how she flicks her hair over her shoulder when she scores a point.
K3: You get the case in the morning and try it in the afternoon.
This trial diary excerpt is from 2011 King County Superior Court.
Trial day 1
Am not smiling as leave the courtroom. Judge Hill has just chewed me out. All my energy is turning inward. Breathe in. Breath out. Walk down the stairs to the car. And leave.
Read MoreJudy Chambers has passed away. Eight months after Tom.
In September we received a picture postcard from their final scuba diving trip. He later posted it to his blog.
After reading it (and recovering my equilibrium) I sent Tom an email. The interchange is a reminder to all of us (even the busiest of us trial lawyers) - of the importance of love.
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"Atticus told me to delete the adjectives and I'd have the facts."
- Chapter 7 of To Kill a Mockingbird
Her right leg was catastrophically smashed, causing excruciating and unrelenting pain. The limb felt like it was being stabbed a million times by a sharp knife. The sharp burning pain became absolutely unbearable to the point where she was forced to take vicodin.
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K: Catherine - I just tried to log into the blog and it won't let me.
C: I'll figure it out.
K: Thanks
C: Gently prodding: you haven't written anything for a while, I've been checking the stats.
We are changing the way we read. Short has not just become better. It has become essential in the quest to capture the attention of our audience.
Pedantic legal writing is no longer highly valued by judges. With crushing case loads, our Honors need us to get right to the point. They impose page limits on us. And even then, will sometimes admit they haven't read our pleadings.
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J.R.: Hi Karen, I thought of you when reading the SuperLawyer Top 10. Are you the first woman to do this? CONGRATS!
K: Uh.
Go to www.superlawyers.com top list for Washington. Interesting. Appear to be in the top 10. Walk down hall to Catherine's room.
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It's a drizzly Sunday. Have popped into the office to work on a settlement letter. Nala is chewing on her antler. Am eating my favorite pastry from Macrina bakery - the orange pinwheel. Superb as usual.
Am working on the letter. But also engaging in typical bounce around behavior. Read incoming email from co-counsel on a different case. Defense attorney wants a continuance on a summary judgment motion. This is the fifth motion in a string of motions. Maybe it's the fourth. Or the sixth. Have lost count.
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Walk up to door one. Open and walk through. Door two. Push button. It clicks. Enter. Write name and time on log at front desk. Write name on tag and stick on shirt. Cindy arrives and says hello. Follow her down the linoleum covered hall. Past the man in a wheelchair. An open door reveals a woman in bed watching tv. A hunched over man looks at me from another open door. His leg is bandaged. Walk towards the eating area where several others are congregated. Mostly in wheelchairs. Chatting. Average age probably middle 70s. Or older.
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We lawyers are trained to be precise. Everything we say has to be supported. If we're laying out facts to a judge - we need to cite to the source every single time. This breeds a habit of presentation that can be overly meticulous and filled with legalese. It can be a hard habit to break.
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The betrayal via rudeness by a former associate was not just a story. It was part of a case.
I said: we will not go forward on a deposition until the court rules on a pending a motion for protective order. He responded by threatening to seek terms against me. So we (Garth) filed a motion to expedite the protective order hearing.
Read MoreOne of the hospital’s defenses was that it was a small community hospital. It did not have all the fancy equipment of a major urban hospital. The problem with this defense was that the hospital didn’t need an expensive machine to make the correct diagnosis. All it needed, was for someone to: a) notice the red flags; and b) pull a hand held doppler unit out of a cupboard.
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