Friday, July 31, 2009
Another First
Yesterday I had two more firsts in the same hearing. I participated in my first adoption prove up, and I appeared for the first time in Judge Griffin's Court, which means that I have now had a hearing in front of all of the Bowie and Miller County District/Circuit judges. An adoption is an exciting thing to be a part of for a lawyer. It is probably the one time everyone leaves the room happy (the birth mother was not required to be there). The judge can feel good about his decision. The family now has an official new member. The lawyer can feel good because you feel like the child has won and your client has won. It is probably one of the most rewarding, if not the most rewarding, type of case to be involved in. It was a special day.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
First Jury Trial
I had a right of passage yesterday - I had my first jury trial. It is a day that attorneys dream of and dread all at once. The best and worst part of it was that I had less than 24 hours notice that I was flying solo. The partner who was supposed to be trying the case had a family emergency, and the trial could not be pushed because my client is about to start serving in Iraq. I went from doing one direct to doing the whole trial, meaning I had less than 24 hours to prepare a voir dire, opening statement, cross examination of the plaintiff and her boyfriend, and closing statement. It also meant that I had less than 24 hours to worry about the fact that my first jury trial was coming up, so I did not have time to make myself sick stressing about it.
Here are some things I have learned:
(1) Apparently I can prepare for trial in 24 hours and still sleep (some - it was a toss and turn sleep) the night before.
(2) When you are going up against an attorney that is going to make a good, smooth presence before the jury, let the jurors know that it is your first jury trial. It forces the other attorney to be nice to you in front of the jury. It allows you to get away with nerves, awkwardness, and disorganization. They aren't expecting much from you, so anything near competent looks good. Too bad I cannot use that excuse anymore.
(3) Find the juror that looks pleasant at you and the juror the nods at everything you say, and talk to them. You might even get lucky like I did and have them sitting in different parts of the jury box so that all the jurors feel the love.
(4) There are always going to be curveballs thrown at trial. This plaintiff claimed in all medical records and at her deposition that she had left shoulder trouble before and after the accident. On the stand, she said it was her right shoulder before and her left shoulder after the accident. She said this after I had told the jury it was the left before and after the accident in my opening statement. When she said it was her right, all jurors looked at me. I had to put on a show and start stacking up papers that would disprove her statement. It made the jury anticipate my cross. Adding to the anticipation was the juror break that occurred right before my cross.
(5) Cross examination is fun, especially when Plaintiff is inconsistent between her pre-trial and trial testimony. Really fun. It made for an attentive jury. There is nothing like an adrenaline rush that comes after a successful (even though maybe not artfully performed) cross.
(6) Use statements made in voir dire in closing. I am not sure where I learned that or if anyone told me that, but in voir dire I made a statement that fit in perfectly with the cross I did of plaintiff. I read that statement, which every juror seated in the case agreed with, three times in my closing statement. Once at the beginning, once in the middle, and once at the end. It made for a nice theme to the very rough closing statement that I put on.
(7) Waiting for juries to come back is painful. Watching the look on the judge's face while he reads the verdict to himself before reading it out loud is painful.
(8) A win for a defendant is not a $0 verdict, and it is hard to explain a win to others. Plaintiff was asking for around $18,000.00 in medical expenses that she presented the bills for to the jury. When you add pain and suffering and other things like that, it could be around $40,000.00 for a potential verdict. The jury awarded Plaintiff $4,741.00. My goal was for the verdict to be between $5,000-9,000. I get to call it a win.
(9) Voir dire (or choosing the jury for any of you who are not lawyers and have not served on a jury) sucks! It is the worst part of the trial. I do not think that I will be able to ever choose my own jurors after voir dire. Fortunately, another associate in our office went with me and handled choosing the jurors, the motion in limine, and the jury charge. He picked a good jury. He helped me out tremendously! I am very grateful! He also had less than 24 hours notice that he would be helping me. He definitely stepped up to the plate.
(10) Do not underestimate the ability of anyone in trial. If someone has been practicing law for a few years, more than likely they are capable of coming in and doing a trial. They may even use their first trial as an excuse to elicit sympathy from the jury. I have only watched one other trial go all the way to a jury, yet I pulled it off. I guess I am officially a trial lawyer now!
Here are some things I have learned:
(1) Apparently I can prepare for trial in 24 hours and still sleep (some - it was a toss and turn sleep) the night before.
(2) When you are going up against an attorney that is going to make a good, smooth presence before the jury, let the jurors know that it is your first jury trial. It forces the other attorney to be nice to you in front of the jury. It allows you to get away with nerves, awkwardness, and disorganization. They aren't expecting much from you, so anything near competent looks good. Too bad I cannot use that excuse anymore.
(3) Find the juror that looks pleasant at you and the juror the nods at everything you say, and talk to them. You might even get lucky like I did and have them sitting in different parts of the jury box so that all the jurors feel the love.
(4) There are always going to be curveballs thrown at trial. This plaintiff claimed in all medical records and at her deposition that she had left shoulder trouble before and after the accident. On the stand, she said it was her right shoulder before and her left shoulder after the accident. She said this after I had told the jury it was the left before and after the accident in my opening statement. When she said it was her right, all jurors looked at me. I had to put on a show and start stacking up papers that would disprove her statement. It made the jury anticipate my cross. Adding to the anticipation was the juror break that occurred right before my cross.
(5) Cross examination is fun, especially when Plaintiff is inconsistent between her pre-trial and trial testimony. Really fun. It made for an attentive jury. There is nothing like an adrenaline rush that comes after a successful (even though maybe not artfully performed) cross.
(6) Use statements made in voir dire in closing. I am not sure where I learned that or if anyone told me that, but in voir dire I made a statement that fit in perfectly with the cross I did of plaintiff. I read that statement, which every juror seated in the case agreed with, three times in my closing statement. Once at the beginning, once in the middle, and once at the end. It made for a nice theme to the very rough closing statement that I put on.
(7) Waiting for juries to come back is painful. Watching the look on the judge's face while he reads the verdict to himself before reading it out loud is painful.
(8) A win for a defendant is not a $0 verdict, and it is hard to explain a win to others. Plaintiff was asking for around $18,000.00 in medical expenses that she presented the bills for to the jury. When you add pain and suffering and other things like that, it could be around $40,000.00 for a potential verdict. The jury awarded Plaintiff $4,741.00. My goal was for the verdict to be between $5,000-9,000. I get to call it a win.
(9) Voir dire (or choosing the jury for any of you who are not lawyers and have not served on a jury) sucks! It is the worst part of the trial. I do not think that I will be able to ever choose my own jurors after voir dire. Fortunately, another associate in our office went with me and handled choosing the jurors, the motion in limine, and the jury charge. He picked a good jury. He helped me out tremendously! I am very grateful! He also had less than 24 hours notice that he would be helping me. He definitely stepped up to the plate.
(10) Do not underestimate the ability of anyone in trial. If someone has been practicing law for a few years, more than likely they are capable of coming in and doing a trial. They may even use their first trial as an excuse to elicit sympathy from the jury. I have only watched one other trial go all the way to a jury, yet I pulled it off. I guess I am officially a trial lawyer now!
Thursday, July 23, 2009
More Epaphrodituses
The church needs more Epaphrodituses* in it today. Some of you may be wondering, "Who is Epaphroditus?" Read the book of Philippians and you can learn about him. In short, he was a person, apparently from Philippi, who was sent by the Philippians to minister to Paul while Paul was imprisoned in Rome. While with Paul, Epaphroditus became sick almost to the point of death, but God healed him. Paul was sending the letter to the Philippians back probably with Epaphroditus. Your next question is probably "Why do we need more Epaphrodituses in the church?"
A short term mission trip provides an opportunity for churches to be like Epaphroditus was to Paul. It is clear from Paul's writing that Paul was encouraged by Epaphroditus and the time they spent together while in Rome. Epaphroditus brought items for Paul from the church, but he also brought Christian friendship to Paul. I suspect that he also joined with Paul for the time that he was in Rome in Paul's mission to share the gospel. I imagine that the time spent with Paul and the conversation between the friends was a witness to the guards assigned to Paul. I also imagine that Epaphroditus had opportunities to go places and see people to share the gospel that Paul may not have had the opportunity to do since he was in prison. As I have thought about this, I have thought that maybe this is how the church should view short term mission opportunities.
Galatians 6:9-10 make it clear that we are to continue to do good, and especially to those in the household of faith. Part of our sharing of the gospel on a short term mission trip should be to do good in general, but to also do good to those in the household of faith. We should be an encouragement to the ministry that we are standing beside when we are conducting short term missions. I also believe that we should commit to missionaries that we know and be an encouragement to them.
As pretty much anyone who knows me already knows, I go to New Orleans ... a lot ... and to the same place. I have been going for eight years. I have seen that as my friendship with the missionaries who are there has grown, I am able to be an encouragement to them when I do go visit. That does not mean that I am not out doing work in the community or sharing the gospel. It does mean though that I am showing them that I care enough to walk with them in the ministry where they are at. I bring words of encouragement with me when I come. I listen to the struggles when I am there. I am even able to meet needs sometimes. I think that it is encouraging for the missionaries to know that they can count on someone to be there.
Not too long ago I was listening to another member at our church talk about a mission trip to India last year and her intent to travel to North Africa to see another missionary in a year or two. The mission trip to India was to participate in the ministry of a man that our pastor has known for years. Although I have not heard the man from India say it, I am sure that he would tell people that it was an encouragement to him to have the group from our church there standing beside him in the ministry. It is an encouragement to know that the group is going to go back and report to the church what they have seen and heard and what the needs are. Our church was able to meet some of those needs financially. I think that this is very similar to Epaphroditus. Although the member's trip to North Africa probably will not be labeled as a mission trip, I think that she will be bringing encouragement to the missionary who will be there at a time when it is needed. I also suspect that the reports back will better enable our church to pray or meet other needs that may come up.
Part of my point is that maybe we need to actually verbalize encouragement to the ministers in a location as a purpose of a mission trip. This does not mean that we do not want to see lives changed - instead it means that we often want to see them changed more because that would be encouraging to the ministers there. This does not mean that we do not share the gospel - it means that we share the gospel more because we know that the seed has been planted and we are praying, as is the minister, that the harvest is here. This does not mean that we choose destination mission trips just to tour a new city or add a stamp on our passport - it means that we connect with places to invest in.
* I could have just as easily said Tychicuses or Lukes or Timothys or some of the others that Paul lists by name. However, I chose Epaphroditus, in part, because the trip for him not only involved risk, but because bad things happened to him while in Rome. We are not guaranteed our safety or health while performing the good works that God has laid before us. We also should not value our safety or health above the potential to encourage and share the gospel.
A short term mission trip provides an opportunity for churches to be like Epaphroditus was to Paul. It is clear from Paul's writing that Paul was encouraged by Epaphroditus and the time they spent together while in Rome. Epaphroditus brought items for Paul from the church, but he also brought Christian friendship to Paul. I suspect that he also joined with Paul for the time that he was in Rome in Paul's mission to share the gospel. I imagine that the time spent with Paul and the conversation between the friends was a witness to the guards assigned to Paul. I also imagine that Epaphroditus had opportunities to go places and see people to share the gospel that Paul may not have had the opportunity to do since he was in prison. As I have thought about this, I have thought that maybe this is how the church should view short term mission opportunities.
Galatians 6:9-10 make it clear that we are to continue to do good, and especially to those in the household of faith. Part of our sharing of the gospel on a short term mission trip should be to do good in general, but to also do good to those in the household of faith. We should be an encouragement to the ministry that we are standing beside when we are conducting short term missions. I also believe that we should commit to missionaries that we know and be an encouragement to them.
As pretty much anyone who knows me already knows, I go to New Orleans ... a lot ... and to the same place. I have been going for eight years. I have seen that as my friendship with the missionaries who are there has grown, I am able to be an encouragement to them when I do go visit. That does not mean that I am not out doing work in the community or sharing the gospel. It does mean though that I am showing them that I care enough to walk with them in the ministry where they are at. I bring words of encouragement with me when I come. I listen to the struggles when I am there. I am even able to meet needs sometimes. I think that it is encouraging for the missionaries to know that they can count on someone to be there.
Not too long ago I was listening to another member at our church talk about a mission trip to India last year and her intent to travel to North Africa to see another missionary in a year or two. The mission trip to India was to participate in the ministry of a man that our pastor has known for years. Although I have not heard the man from India say it, I am sure that he would tell people that it was an encouragement to him to have the group from our church there standing beside him in the ministry. It is an encouragement to know that the group is going to go back and report to the church what they have seen and heard and what the needs are. Our church was able to meet some of those needs financially. I think that this is very similar to Epaphroditus. Although the member's trip to North Africa probably will not be labeled as a mission trip, I think that she will be bringing encouragement to the missionary who will be there at a time when it is needed. I also suspect that the reports back will better enable our church to pray or meet other needs that may come up.
Part of my point is that maybe we need to actually verbalize encouragement to the ministers in a location as a purpose of a mission trip. This does not mean that we do not want to see lives changed - instead it means that we often want to see them changed more because that would be encouraging to the ministers there. This does not mean that we do not share the gospel - it means that we share the gospel more because we know that the seed has been planted and we are praying, as is the minister, that the harvest is here. This does not mean that we choose destination mission trips just to tour a new city or add a stamp on our passport - it means that we connect with places to invest in.
* I could have just as easily said Tychicuses or Lukes or Timothys or some of the others that Paul lists by name. However, I chose Epaphroditus, in part, because the trip for him not only involved risk, but because bad things happened to him while in Rome. We are not guaranteed our safety or health while performing the good works that God has laid before us. We also should not value our safety or health above the potential to encourage and share the gospel.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Little Guy
I had a short weekend trip to New Orleans last week. Here are some 7 month old pictures of the little guy! He is fully mobile now, but I did not get pictures or video of that because I was too busy chasing him. He is a quick little guy!
"What are you about to do?"
"I love days with Dia!"
Saints fan in training.
He knows he is a cute one!
"What are you about to do?"
"I love days with Dia!"
Saints fan in training.
He knows he is a cute one!
Friday, July 10, 2009
Calvin 500
Today is a big day in reformed circles because John Calvin was born 500 years ago today. I will leave all of the deep conversation about how big a deal Calvin was to theology to all the other blogs out there are writing on the same subject today. I think one of his most important contributions is writing a systematic theology. The question that I want to raise is whether we properly call this Calvin's 500th birthday or the 500th anniversary of Calvin's birth. Maybe both are proper. I think I prefer using the 500th anniversary of Calvin's birth.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Some good thoughts
I read this two part blog (part 1 and part 2) today, and I think that it is worth sharing. I pray that my church will reach out to the community that it is in, but I also realize that it will take some time. I think that this blog provides helpful hints for friendships as well as churches though, and change can start in individuals by taking these things into account. My piece of advice? Be intentional about creating diverse friendships without trying to become the culture you are trying to connect with (although it will rub off on you a little which is OK). I think that most people have a problem connecting with other cultures because of a lack of humility in dealing with other cultures, and this author makes that point very clear.
Thankful for Filters
There are some days that I wish that I could just speak my mind. I see something going on, and I wish that I could just be blunt about it. For those of you who know me, you are probably thinking, "You mean she is holding back? Scary." Of course you are probably also the ones that I feel comfortable enough to share my opinion with all of the time because I know that you won't take it the wrong way. I am known for speaking my mind, but over the past few years, I have tried to be more conscious about being careful when I speak it (or refraining from speaking it). Yet I still want to speak my mind. I think it is something that I will always struggle with, in part because I think that if I could just impart my wisdom into the situation then everything will be fixed. I have come to realize that speaking the mind is a pride issue for me. It is me making it clear that I feel like I have all of the answers or at least have looked at the symptoms long enough to know that there is a situation that needs to be fixed. Also, it is me making it evident to those around me that I have enough spiritual knowledge or awareness to know what is right or wrong. Pride is ugly, especially when it comes out when speaking truth or attempting to speak truth.
I need more filters in my speech. I am thankful for the filters that I have right now. There are some situations where speaking the truth would be hurtful or counterproductive. There are some situations where speaking the truth would be misinterpreted. There are some situations where speaking the truth is my sinful attempt to justify telling someone off (and may not be as truthful as I convince myself that it is). Finally, there are friendships where I can have filter free speech without problems, and I am thankful for those friends who stick around despite all of the sinfulness. I think that some of them are amused when I enter into filter free speech, and that is part of the benefit of being my friend. However, I really need to work on having appropriate filters all the time, which will require me to work on the inside as much as the outside. Starting with speech is a good place to start though!
I need more filters in my speech. I am thankful for the filters that I have right now. There are some situations where speaking the truth would be hurtful or counterproductive. There are some situations where speaking the truth would be misinterpreted. There are some situations where speaking the truth is my sinful attempt to justify telling someone off (and may not be as truthful as I convince myself that it is). Finally, there are friendships where I can have filter free speech without problems, and I am thankful for those friends who stick around despite all of the sinfulness. I think that some of them are amused when I enter into filter free speech, and that is part of the benefit of being my friend. However, I really need to work on having appropriate filters all the time, which will require me to work on the inside as much as the outside. Starting with speech is a good place to start though!
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Appellate Argument
I found out today that I have my first appellate oral argument scheduled for August. This is a big deal! The appellate court rarely grants a request for oral argument, and when they do, it is because they expect the case to be one that is worthy of being published once the decision is made. Oral arguments before the appellate court help one establish themselves as an appellate attorney, something I would not mind because I like writing the briefs. I forsee some nerve issues in my future as I prepare for the arguments though! August will be fun.
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