Have taken hundreds of defendant driver depositions. Used to have a checklist to make sure I didn’t forget the basics. Lost that checklist at a few decades ago. Now as a mentor for young attorneys, have reconstructed one which am sharing with you.
Read MoreAm trying to show empathy to our new associate who has been working long hours. Encourage him to make sure to take a day off. During firm meeting raise the issue of not working too much . Then Stritmatter crashes the party.
Strit: I’m going to derail this conversation. My father and I worked 7 days a week. That’s how I was raised. Work comes first. If you want to be a great lawyer you have to work a lot.
Read MoreTrial day 7
Part of a trial lawyer’s worry – is the concern that without a clear cut case, pounding on damages may be too much. Perhaps jurors will be pushed over the edge into voting against liability. But while looking at the dynamics from all directions is always a worthy exercise, we are in trial and there is no time to be faint of heart.
Mr. P went through torture ending in death. We must own that. Not shy away from it. At the same time we should be guided by principles of compassion, decency for the survivors’ sake, and overall humanity in the presentation.
Read MoreIf the defense was to bring their jury consultant back, there would be major problems. First, no room for that person to sit. Second, the jurors’ faces are covered by masks. You can see no expression. Every so often you can see someone nod. But there is no real rhyme or reason to that. They are also spread out across the entire courtroom. You can’t glance over at them. You’d have to scan dozens of linear feet.
Part of my being in trial, includes feeling of the jury. Now they are physically hidden. Still, can sense something. They are calm. They are not restless. No one is dozing. They are paying close attention. Some taking notes.
Read MoreDid I tell you that Steve F. got in trouble yesterday. Almost enough to satisfy me. But not quite.
In the middle of damages opening. Tell the jury that the defense expert doctor is going to say he did not feel pain. Steve is hopping up. Objecting on top of my sentence. We aren’t calling any such witness – he charges. Judge Parisien calls a non-socially distanced sidebar in the corner of the conference room perfectly in sight of everyone.
Read MoreHead over the bridge to Bellevue. Enter the parking garage. The gates are up. A sign is taped over the ticket machine. Free parking. Slide into a spot. Walk a few feet to the entrance. It is all so clean and perfect and sterile as heck. Miss the cracked sidewalks, scores of people, and general dishabille of King County Superior Court at 3rd and Stewart. Even the long and twisty security lines. We are set up and ready to zoom voir dire.
Read MoreBy far the biggest challenge in our covid trial is the mask situation. Never mind that we are in a convention center conference room. Or that the jury is spread out across the ballroom floor. This is from my trial diary - day 1.
The defense lawyer is a distraction. Or rather his facemask is. It is dark blue with a design that looks like either big diamonds or a faux Louis Vuitton print. Can’t quite decide if it is garish or neat. It is for certain bold. And has me transfixed.
Read MoreTwo months ago we filed a dozen tort claims with the city and state. For peaceful protesters who were hurt by the police or in Summer Taylor’s case - killed - while protesting for BLM. We then needed to wait 60 days before filing the suit.
Instead of having down time, we began drafting the complaint. I had the great role of being the boss of all and handed out assignments.
Read MoreDon’t trust insurance companies. One of the first things they will do in a case where there may be exposure - is to take the statements of witnesses. Eye witnesses to be precise.
While it is good to take a statement in a timely manner. It is bad when the interviewer messes with the memory of the eye witness or skews what they say. Insurers will never turn over their work product of interviewing these witnesses. Though they must turn over any interview of the plaintiff who unknowingly agreed to be interviewed before hiring a lawyer (shudder).
Read MoreIn the early 1990s, Tom Chambers sent me on a motion mission. Go to court. Argue that Dr. X was used so often by the insurance industry to testify against plaintiffs no matter what that they should be disqualified as an expert in our case. Went to court. Lost the motion.
Tom had me bring and lose that motion multiple times.
“It goes to weight,” declared the judges. “If they’re biased you can bring that out in cross.”
Read MoreIsn’t it true that…
You previously testified to X - didn’t you…
She did XYZ - isn’t that right…
As a young lawyer, I felt the flush of success when cross examining a witness with leading questions. We were taught the technique in law school. Told it was the best and only way to cross examine a witness. You never wanted to ask an open ended question - oh no. Because terrible things could happen
Read More7:30 am Get up. Take out Nala. It’s cool outside. Mountain air.
8:00 Eat raspberries. Clean up and pack.
8:45 Cristina, Sol and Liam come from little cabin to big one to say bye. And take away a bike.
8:50 Dance while Liam bangs on piano to the Latin drum beat. They finish. Say goodbye.
Read MoreAs lawyers, we are uniquely qualified to fight against institutional racism. Yet how many of us are standing with the protesters - maybe not in the actual protests, but advocating on their behalf. And on behalf of this cause.
Read MoreJudge Oishi begins the arraignment: The defense has filed a motion to prohibit media from filming the defendant.
Defense counsel rises and makes his case for why the cameras should not alight upon his client. This is in the form of a type of opening statement.
Read MoreWe are unbelievably humbled to be surrounded by you all this morning. The work of this community is to seek justice for those who for centuries have been victims of oppression, violence, discrimination, and death. And so we deeply thank you for extending your love to our child.
Read MoreJustice Ireland:
“Here’s a picture of me as the first woman member of the Washington State Trial Lawyer Association Board. It only happened because the President, John Lewis, insisted. He wanted me to be chair of the legislative committee because I had worked in the Stat senate three terms in college. I knew everyone and where all the bodies were buried. The WSTLA Board agreed with one hitch.
Read MoreMy kids were 6, 8 and 10 when their dad and I separated. A year later we divorced.
As a single working parent, there was an ever present tension between my time spent with my kids and time spent at work. Their dad eventually got to the point of sharing custody every other week. An arrangement that I detested but also needed.
Read MoreFrom the very beginning I knew that my shadow day with my mom would not be exactly relaxing. I woke up the same time I do every school morning, and left the house by 7:30am. Kristin (co-student) met me and my mom and we headed out to Seattle. On the way over we were stuck in a fantastic jam of traffic, so we had a lot of time to question my mom about how she likes being a lawyer, and got an idea of some of the different cases she does.
Read MoreThe new client’s brother had a list of news media reporters who had left their numbers. My first job was to get that all handled as quickly as possible.
Read MoreLearned last week that we did not win the nomination to be a finalist in the running to be the 2019 Trial Lawyer of the Year for Public Justice. When Brad told me - he said - I know you don’t care. And he was right. Because I had given it almost no thought. It was an honor to be nominated. But our case was not the typical Public Justice type of fight. We weren’t a class action. It wasn’t about a toxic tort.
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