I just spent the last month prepping for a court appearance - reading cases, writing a brief and a reply brief, slogging through the other side’s materials, wading through procedural history, thinking about the case, eating poorly due to odd hours, and generally getting tired, anxious and short of sleep.
And it was all worth it - because earlier this week I got to stand up and argue some thorny points of law, doing my best to advance my case and to respond to the points raised by my friends, in front of a very smart judge who was very engaged and asked me lots of probing questions.
I’m still glowing from it. There’s the inevitable esprit d’escalier, of course, as I think of additional points I could have made, but that’s just minor and to be expected. And then, there’s the moments when I re-tell it to Mrs Piper (who’s very sympathetic to the need to re-hash it, since she’s litigator herself), and also boring my colleagues by going on about it all.
Fun, fun, fun!
And, I’ve already started thinking about how I can get better if it goes on appeal…
Now that’s why I got into law–the research, the prepping, and the argument. May not be for everyone, but I like it. Good to know that you had a blast, Northern Piper.
Nothing like a post like this to remind me of how old and jaded I am. Had the opportunity to do a ton of (appellate) oral arg at an early stage in my career. Was great to be able to do enough of it to try different things and really develop my style. Now, at best it is just a part of my job. At worst - when I get in front of a crank like Posner or Wood or a ditz like Rovner, it’s just a PITA.
I was an expert witness for a trial this past April and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I was on the defense side, and the plaintiff had sued about 15 property owners, so there were seven different defense attorneys. The plaintiff’s counsel referred to them as “the seven-headed monster”.
They were seven very smart and energetic folks who really gave me a lesson in lawyering - who knew it was so fascinating? I also enjoyed presenting my opinons in testimony.
There was one magic moment when I had gotten up to sketch some things on a flip chart when I had all of their attention - the judge, defense attorneys, plaintiff’s attorneys - for a brief minute they all kind of stepped out of reality and focused on what I was explaining, forgot they were in the middle of trial. Kind of like that suspension of disbelief you experience when watching a movie. That was really neat.
It is a blast, isn’t it? I’ve never got that “afraid to speak in public” thing that people talk about. Fielding questions from well-prepared judges who are probing your argument is one of the highpoints of my job.
That’s right - have to think through the implications of each part of the argument, so you don’t inadvertently open up a promising line for the other side.
^^ Oh, plaintiff’s counsel did that during our trial!
I had gone to the site the week before trial and checked something technical. Since this ‘test’ did not appear in my opinion, I couldn’t bring it up at trial. Except that plaintiff’s counsel asked me something which “opened the door” and I jumped right through with my answer.
The city attorney leapt to his feet with an objection, then all seven defense jumped up and shouted “Aha! But he opened the door !!!”.
