A few weeks ago, I went to watch an attorney friend in action… she gave me a heads up as to when the most interesting witnesses would be on trial and I was able to watch a few hours of testimony.
Obviously I think everything that I do is great, and you should strive to be more like me, so let me tell you why this is a great idea. (kidding, duh).
First of all, because I’ve never been to that courthouse before, and now I at least know where it is. I was able to find the building and get a feel for the general layout of the building/area, which I know will be helpful just in case I ever have to go back there for work. I have been to tons of courthouses – they are all different. They all have different procedures for parking, for attorney entrance, about whether or not you can bring a cell phone in, etc. It can be nervewracking showing up for the first time if you’ve been in traffic and don’t know exactly where you’re going or which security line you go through. If you’ve never met your client/their family and are unfamiliar with the case, it can be barftastic. I am all about doing whatever I can to familiarize myself with what to expect.
Second – I have never observed another attorney and not learned something. I only watched this trial for a few hours, but I definitely think I learned a few things. One of things I observed is the importance of knowing when to stop when you’re questioning a witness. I thought at one point during the cross-examination of a witness, one of the attorney’s had done a great job of driving home a point to the jury, but he kept going and asking more questions. I’m pretty sure he was just trying to clarify his point to the jury, but I thought it ended up making him look like a bully who was picking on a witness for not being as smart as him. If I had been the one questioning I probably would have kept going, but since I had the benefit of being able to watch the attorney, the witness, and the jury all at the same time, I was able to see how the jurors reacted to the additional questions.
Not just trials though… even sitting in a courtroom for an hour during the 9:00 call to see how a judge runs their courtroom can be helpful.
A personal observation/reflection – I have a lot of work to do as far as listening instead of speaking (I know you’re all shocked). I am not very good at that. Silence makes me uncomfortable, and I feel like I need to fill the silence by talking, whether it’s to ask another question or to re-phrase the question I’ve already asked. It is HARD to sit and be silent and let a witness answer a question.
Also, I am so so bad about using filler words... I need to strike “like” “okay, so…” etc. from my vocabulary.
Finally, I learned that no matter how prepared you are for a trial/witness/direct examination/cross examination, anything can happen.
A paraphrase of direct examination of a witness:
Attorney: "Do you remember showing up to this address?"
Witness: "No I don't"
Attorney: "Okay, if I showed you your report, would that refresh your memory?"
Witness: "Nope."
Attorney: "Do you remember writing this report?"
Witness: "No"
Attorney: “That’s your signature on the bottom of the report, correct?”
Witness: “Yeah”
Attorney: "Do you remember talking to me on the phone about this report?"
Witness: "No I do not. I remember when you came by to show me some pictures."
Attorney: "No, we've never met in person before today. We spoke on the phone. I never showed you any pictures.”
And my friend had spoken to the witness at least 5 times before trial about the report. He had given useful information about what he observed at the scene, and zero indication that he would be a completely worthless witness at trial. WHAT THE HELL. I would be so furious. She just had to do her best with what he was giving her and try to get any information out of him that she can, but things don't always go according to plan.
I kind of hate the phrase “shaking my head”, but seriously all I could do with this guy was shake my head. And that is why if you’re going to try a case to a jury you have to be able to think on your feet and handle any bizarre situation that may happen, because no matter how much you prepare you can’t account for what some bozo is going to say on the stand. SMH.