There is a fairly decent chance that I will be in trial this week. On Friday, my case was the second one on the list, meaning that if the first case resolves, my case will be up.
Being in trial is a unique experience. For me and most attorneys I know, everything else in life sort of stops. Like you hit the pause button on your life. All other cases disappear. You have only one client, the trial client. Everyone else is nonexistent during that time.
The same is true for your personal life. Everything is secondary to trial. No social events, no church events, no errands, nothing. Just trial.
Basically when handling a trial, it's like signing up to work every minute of the day minus when you are sleeping. During the day, you are in trial. During the breaks, you are reviewing your case, planning your questions, thinking of how to best present things, etc. There is no "break." Just trial work while the jury goes pee. Same for lunch. Shove something down your gullet while working.
After the work day, you continue to work. You plan and prep and practice. In the shower, you're practicing your open and closing statements. You are practicing your motion argument in the car. It consumes every minute of your life. You go to bed too late and wake up too early. You are never thinking about anything but trial.
So finding out that I'm going to be in trial is both good and bad. I enjoy a good trial. It's the ultimate in "being a lawyer." My very own Law & Order moment. But I also know that my life will be taken over that week and I will no longer have the ability to do anything else except trial.
It's also so much fun, though. The reason why we became lawyers, right?
ReplyDeleteGood luck!
It is so much fun! And definitely why I wanted to be a lawyer. Although I was sad when I found out I didn't get to just prance around the courtroom all willy-nilly like they do on TV. But, that's a minor disappointment. :)
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