Me? Superstitious?

I was recently asked to talk about what I do for a living with the friend of a friend. Let's just say I was asked any number of questions about "How can you do that?" and "What if they're guilty?" But the most intriguing question I was asked was "What do you do before a big trial?"

First of all, and perhaps this is due to my relative youth, but to me, all trials are big. Even the most mundane DWI trial. I still get nervous. I still feel like I will absolutely screw something up. I still feel a certain sense of privilege to be able to be someone else's voice in a court of law. Cheesy, maybe, but true.

The question that I thought was interesting was the one that had to do with my general routine before trial. I will admit that I am a creature of habit. The good folks at Starbuck's don't even have to ask what I want. (Venti large coffee, no room, in case you're keeping score at home.) I make the same small talk with the garage attendant as he parks my car. I scroll through the same web pages and blogs, generally in the same order, every morning. I am nothing if not predictable. I don't like it, but that's just me. I hate being a foregone conclusion though.

So when I was asked what my routine was before a trial, I found myself almost giddy at the opportunity to talk about it. It's sad now that I look back on it. Really sad. But anyway, oh well.

I explained that the most common element of my pre-trial routine is an overall lack of sleep. This generally begins about a week before the scheduled start of the trial. Although cliche, I keep a notepad in the drawer of my nightstand so that when I inevitably wake up in a cold sweat about the trial with some great idea, I can write it down so I don't forget.

Most trials start on Monday, so that means the weekend before is usually spent in my office prepping. Prepping of course can mean any number of things. It could mean setting up the files on the computer for the presentation to the jurors or it could mean reworking my cross of a key witness or looking for props. (I have been called the Carrot Top of the courtroom because of my willingness to bring in countless props for use during a trial.) But once the weekend is over, and that sleepless Sunday night is gone, it's show time come Monday morning.

I explained that since I didn't sleep that much, if at all, the night before, I tend to start earlier than usual...often around 4 a.m. That gives me a couple of uninterrupted hours to run through everything in fast forward. I make a dry run through what I think/ hope/ expect/ pray will be the "actual" trial. Of course this is never the case in reality, but we all have to hang on to something.

After the wife, kid, and dogs wake up, it is generally business as usual. Once I have dropped off the kid at school and gotten the proverbial cup of Breakfast Blend, it's to the office.

At the office, I make sure all of my bags are packed (props remember?) and make sure there are no other issues that need to be resolved before I begin my little adventure. In Tarrant County, even though the court says trial starts at 9 a.m./ 10:30 a.m./ [insert generic time here], we all know they really just want our client there at that time, and not necessarily us. It is rare these days that any court knows exactly what case is going to trial on a given day, so we all wait around for what can be hours before we determine who is going and who it going home. Generally that 9 a.m. trial will begin picking a jury after lunch. This is the time I hate.

I hate waiting on a jury. Everyone does. Too much Deliberations Quarterback. But I really hate the morning while everyone is sitting around waiting on what to do. It's really pretty ridiculous. At times, it's like a monkey f**king a football. Unless of course we are in federal court where everything works like it should. God I love federal court.

For the 3 or 4 hours that I am stuck waiting, the single greatest invention is the iPod. I can't imagine trying cases without having an iPod to listen to during the down times. Of course now that I think about it, I think the first iPod (which I owned by the way) came out right after I graduated from law school, so I really don't know what it was like. Damn.

I typically listen to something that I find appropriate for the trial. Anything from gangster rap to classical. I will find a quiet place in the courthouse to sit, listen, and review something. Of course by that point, I already know everything I need to know about the case that I don't really need my notes. But I find the music will give me a chance to sit and relax and maybe, hopefully, find something new to put into the trial.

So for those thinking that there is some sort of magical element to trying cases, there isn't. At least not for me. Of course I'm sure there are those much more seasoned than I that will probably say they don't get nervous and don't have a ritual and certainly don't need all the material I do. Maybe one day I will be like that. Maybe one day I will look at a trial as just another day at the office. I hope not.

Comments

[Other Steve]

As one of your 4 readers (per your previous post, matlock-law.typepad.com/the_blog/2007/11/statute-of-the-.html) I think I can safely speak for 25% of your audience when I say, "I loved this post!"

As someone who's never had any significant interaction with the criminal justice system (in fact, I'm not a lawyer at all - or even a law student), I have no idea what it's like to prepare for trial or rock out to my iPod in a courtroom or wait on a jury...until you tell me! This may be standard daily-grind stuff to the practicing defenders in your readership, but to me, it's all new and fascinating. Thanks for writing about it, and please continue!

[Matlock]

OT,

Thanks for the comment. I'm glad to see that my readership has remained steady.

I'm glad you liked the post. Now if you ever see some lawyer in the courthouse blasting Jay-Z in the hallway, you'll know why.

Of course I may be the only one that does that.

[Jenny]

I am offended that I was left out of the count. #5 here. I wouldn't say you are the only lawyer who might be blasting Jay-Z. Jay-Z was my first criminal law professor. Everything anyone needs to know about the 4th Amendment can be learned from 99 Problems. Okay. Maybe not EVERYTHING.

[Jamie]

Get an RSS reader and say goodbye to scrolling through blogs. Some good ones don't post often enough when they go through bloggers block - i.e. laziness - and you don't have to keep checking in on each one.

:)

[Matlock]

Sorry Jenny. You're right. There are five readers. Once it hit that mark, it became really hard to keep up with.;)