Lessons Learned . . .

My trial got bumped. I was second on the docket, but I was almost certain the case ahead of me wouldn't make it to a trial. It did make it and as it turned out, I was fortunate that it did. The defense lawyer on the case that did go to trial is highly-regarded and watching him at work has been a bit of a reality check.

You see, I thought I was ready for trial. I had filed my motions, interviewed my witnesses, visited the scene of the alleged offense, gathered my evidence and done my research. I prepared my trial notebook and had my voir dire ready. I prepared just like I have prepared for my other trials (3 bench trials and 3 jury trials), all trials that I've won. In my mind, I was ready to go. My mindset changed when I saw this other lawyer in action.

From the moment he entered the court room, you could tell he was well-prepared. Prior to starting any motions or anything like that, he went through a list of twenty or so items he wanted to address with the judge. These weren't legal issues, just attempts at getting familiar with that particular court's procedures during trial. Many of the items on the list were things I wouldn't have thought to ask about.

Once he started arguing his Motions in Limine to the judge, you could tell he had been working on his case for much longer than I had worked on mine. One of the first issues he brought up was a question he had observed the prosecutor ask during voir dire in the previous two trials in that court. There's roughly one felony criminal trial a month in this court and that means he started observing the prosecutor two months out from his trial. This is his only case in this particular court and so it's not as if he was there on other cases. He made a concerted effort to observe the prosecutor. I've thought about doing that before, but have never actually done it.

His trial notebook looked like a tabbed-out San Antonio phone book (back when the yellow pages and white pages were combined). My trial notebook looked like a playbill compared to his. He had quite simply outworked me. I summed it up to a friend like this - I had done the work necessary to give my client a good chance at acquittal, while this lawyer had done the work necessary to give his client every chance at acquittal.

A partner at my former law firm once told me something that stuck with me. He said "You could work Monday through Friday, from eight to five, and still be a good lawyer. But if you want to be a serious, kick ass, well-respected lawyer, you have to put in the time. You have to put in the time" Those words were never truer than on Monday morning as I watched this serious, kick ass, well-respected lawyer try his case.

Taking a Break.....

Here I sit, on the eve of my first felony trial. Between my business account, trust account and money in my wallet, I may have twenty dollars to my name. My rent is now ten days late and my secretary has still not received her check for last week. My client has only paid one-tenth of the fee I quoted him and yet, I have shut down my practice for the last four or five days for him, for his trial. My key witness - the witness whose testimony I was building my entire theory of the case upon is now changing his story on the eve of trial. I am starting to think he may change it once again while he is on the stand. I started the day feeling great about the case, swore I would lose by this afternoon and now am thinking I am an idiot if I can't win this thing. In a few hours, I will probably be drafting my own entry for the BODA section of the State Bar Journal. I have my evidence together, but I can't help but feel that if I had one more week, the case would get better. One more week. That would give me time to explore those avenues of defense that are now flooding my brain. That would give me time to follow up on those seemingly innocuous witness statements that have now taken on entirely different meanings as I replay them over and over in my head. This is it. I am a criminal defense lawyer.