Someone is knocking on the door. Nala starts barking. Reach over for phone. It is 6:30 a.m. The knocking continues. Realize it isn't knocking.
Jump out of bed. Rush to the balcony door. Throw it open. There's a flurry of beautiful brown and orange red wings. The woodpecker flies onto the 45 year old maple tree. Looks back at me over his shoulder. And takes off.
Read MoreThe movie gift that just keeps giving - is the showdown between Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men. That moment on the witness stand when Jack defiantly declares his magnificence. Gets up to leave. And Tom says - sit back down. And Jack has to. Because he's in court.
Mr. T, as you may recall , gave a rather similar performance in deposition last month. And then some. Because no judge was present.
Read MoreAlarm goes off. Am already conscious. Tissues surround me. Am ill.
Have to be in court by 8:45. Go through the motions. Get there in time. Judge S is late. We are set to argue before a jury trial starts at 9. They are at the voir dire phase. The prosecutor and defender are chatting.
Read MoreAnne has started off the new year with a Fitbit. Her goal - add steps to her sedentary work day. Tearing herself away from her desk has proven difficult. Anne always has more work than she can complete.
Enter Nala. She comes to work most days. There are many hours spent lying on the floor, chewing an old antler, digging the stuffing out of her bed, and otherwise being bored. She doesn't complain though. Afterwards we typically go for a run.
Read MorePick up mom from Shoreline. It is 58 degrees out and she is in a faux fur black maxi coat with brass buttons. She bought it for $25. Half off at the consignment store. Brand new from Sears.
Take her to late lunch at Din Tai Fung University Village. Hour and a half wait. Meet up with my brother Greg and his wife Laurie. We say forget it. Go to Boom Noodle. Eat lunch. Not as good as Din Tai Fung but quicker. Greg and Laurie take Nala for doggie sitting play date. I drive with mom to the movie theater at The Landing in Renton. My sister Jenny pulls up. Out jump her boys Ben and EJ. We eat popcorn and watch Paddington Bear. Quite delightful.
Read MoreToday Nala almost killed herself.
It is drizzling. We are running around the neighborhood. Both of us in our rain gear. Splish. Splash. It starts pouring. Get home. Wash off the dirt. Towel her. Repeat process with myself.
Need to file a brief this morning. A discovery teleconference is scheduled to start soon.
Read MoreOne of the hazards of driving while high, is that you become a very bad driver. A year ago, Mr. H decided not to take my word for it. He smoked some pot. Went for a drive. Creamed a car. In the back of the car, right where he t-boned it, sat high school student John T. And his doggie who was instantly killed.
Read More5:45 am. Phone beeps. Count backward down to the minute have to get up to get out on time. 5:56 am get up.
Race through morning ritual. Clothes put out the night before. Black crop jeans. Black t-shirt. Deconstructed BCBG black and gray striped jacket. Black doc martens. 2 black bags. Black raincoat. Slick back hair that used to be black and now in places looks like tinsel. Grab 2 luna bars, fat sumo orange and honey crisp apple for later.
Read MorePrologue:
Taught trial advocacy for many years at UW School of Law with dear friend Bill Bailey. Bill is now a full time professor at the school. Since teaching without him would not be the same, decided to turn in adjunct badge. However, today am going to the school to teach voir dire.
Read MoreSaturday morning. Am going through and dumping old files. The box catches my eye: "Business Junk - Old School Records." All neatly organized. Typical.
Find a two page writing sample entitled: "Where will I be in ten years. Karen Kathryn Koehler. English 181 Milbauer, May 9, 1979."
This would have been typed on an IBM Selectric. The three pages of onion skin paper are a bit wrinkled.
Read MoreOn The Good Wife or Drop Dead Diva, the attorneys get the cases in the morning. Try them in the afternoon.
In the real world the case is filed and then has to wait a year and a half for a trial date.
If it survives for that long, there is a fifty-fifty chance the defense will ask the judge for (and get) a continuance. Delay is a friend of the defense: Deny. Defend. Delay.
Read MoreWake up at 6:45. Laze around. Tonight is Hollyball. Wonder what else is on schedule. Open calendar. "9:00 a.m. hold for Court of Appeals Argument." Whaaaaaaaaaaa
Text John 7:27 - is there an argument today.
Texts back 7:29. Yes at 9:30 at first & union.
Read MoreDriving while high is now being used as a sword by the insurance companies of bad drivers who cause crashes.
Let's say you live in a state where pot is legal. You get high on a Sunday evening with a group of friends in your own home. On Thursday, you are driving down a road and someone runs a red light. You had a green light. The bad driver tells the officer that you look high. The officer doesn't see anything unusual but asks you to take a blood test. Carboxy-THC shows up. You are ticketed for driving under the influence. Until a prosecutor looks at the blood work and realizes there's no case. At which point the charges are dropped
Read MoreJan was married to her childhood sweetheart. She made his favorite sandwich. Was getting ready to leave for his jobsite. So they could have a noon picnic in the car. Phone rang. There had been a work accident. Charlie was dead. Jan never got to say goodbye.
Read MoreThe house is beautiful and glowing. Am standing with back to fully enclosed gas fireplace. Getting warm. Talking to Steven who is sitting by the chess board.
Fzzzzzzzzz. Crackle.
He jumps up running toward me. Hits at my head.
Read MoreIn 2007, when I was President of WSTLA, I wrote an article called the Value of Dissent.
The focus at that time was AAJ and my perception of its systemic problems in advancing diversity. I was not liked by AAJ leadership for being aggressively outspoken on the issue.
Read MoreShellie and I walk into the Triple Door on 3rd and Union. Late as usual.
Hi. Hi. Hug. How are you. Hand shake. Hi. Everyone is smiling. Am here to support Ada Ko Wong who is president Elect of VABAW (Vietnamese-American Bar Assn of WA) on its 10th year anniversary.
Read MoreGet up before alarm rings at 6. This means it is really 4. Flop back on bed. Alarm rings at 6:15.
Search around for hotel phone on night table. Don’t find it. Sigh. It is on the other side of the bed. Scramble across. Hit “O”. Ask for front desk. It is front desk. Can I get a late check out. Yes.
Read MoreThe defense is bringing in a memory expert from back east. To say the surviving brother's memory is not real.
This is an asbestos-mesothelioma trial. The exposure happened in the 1970s. The only witnesses who can identify the product are the brother (who was then eight) and the deceased.
Read MoreChildren may be scared to testify in a trial. But being on a witness stand can also be empowering for them. They are having their day in court. They are participating in an integral part of our country's foundational structure. They are helping the process of determining the truth.
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