Beat

Although a large percentage of our practice is litigation, I made it nearly 5 years before having to assist at a trial. We had one other jury trial a couple of years ago, but the other side finally settled after we picked the jury. It just doesn't make sense for most of our clients to go to court--it's too expensive.

But, all the forces aligned and my workweek started last Sunday night at 8pm. We picked the jury Monday morning but there was another case in front of us, so the trial didn't start until Thursday morning. Talk about exhausting--having to be fully dressed and "on stage" for hours on end is hard work. I ate every meal at the office--lunch and dinner closed in a small room with my boss who doesn't really chew his food. He just smacks it down. To add insult to injury, the "Taste of Mayberry" was Thursday night, so when we arrived back at the office from the court house, there was no where to park and 10,000 people partying in the streets. He gave me 20 minutes to run home, let my dog out, change clothes and pick up our dinner. Admittedly, I was glad that the coffee shop across the street was still open at 9:30 when I realized we still had plenty of work in front of us.

At any rate, we felt good when the jury went out and were more encouraged when they did not return quickly. The good news--they did buy our arguments. We had managed to get most of the counts thrown out before the trial began, got another thrown out after the Plaintiffs finished their case on Thursday afternoon and believed that only one of the remaining three had any merit. The jury agreed. We gave them a formula for how to determine how much money to award and they agreed. Problem being, they didn't agree with one number in our formula and the result was that our client owes his archenemy several thousand dollars.

We left an attorney on the jury, and thankfully, she was willing to share with me the jury's reasoning following the trial. They all felt that it was a defense verdict and could not have been more complimentary of our lawyering. That did little to rid us of the sting when looking at our clients' faces.

So, I hurried home following the verdict, left my suit on the floor, and headed south with my mother to my grandparents' house. My grandfather celebrated his 86th birthday on Saturday and my sister and my nephew were already waiting for us. I let my mother drive (even after she nearly killed us a mile from my house) for a while, but when I realized that a 3 hour drive was going to take us 5, I took over. Then, my sister and I stayed up until 1 am talking. I woke up the next morning feeling like I had been to a lock in at the Y.

I tried to take a nap after breakfast, but my brain would not turn off. All the woulda, coulda, shouldas were just eating me up. So, I got up and helped my grandmother with lunch. My sister, nephew and myself left shortly thereafter heading home and I did nap on the way back. I awoke feeling fairly human to discover we were one exit past ours heading straight into downtown Atlanta--where road resurfacing had traffic backed up for miles. An hour or so later, we finally made it back to my house. Pizza, a Clifford dog from one of those "grab the stuffed animal" machines (it only cost $4), and some glossies later, I found myself in my bed with my 80 pound dog and my nephew. I had to draw the line at my sister joining us.

Will--the child who is a fabulous sleeper--was ready to go at 4:00. I convinced him to lie back down, but being sandwiched between two of my favorite beings does not make for the most peaceful slumber. Up at 7:30, they were gone by 9 and I only had 846 entries in my feed reader.

I sure hope I never have to do that again.