I Fell Apart but Got Up Again

Existence a lawyer is one of the nigh nerve-wracking jobs in the country. Every single example is something completely unlike, only yous're nearly ever in a battle stance. You need a cool caput and a will to win. A simple degree won't get you out of the courtroom with your mind intact. Sometimes, shocking curveballs are thrown your way.

These lawyers had intriguing cases that simply shook them to their cores — in split seconds or 1 swift statement, the winner was confirmed. Whether it hurt or helped their cases, these situations are the near memorable parts of their experiences in the courtroom.

A Grand Old Flag

I met with the client, in person, roughly five times and had a number of phone calls leading up to the demote trial (the client wanted to fast rail to final disposition as much as possible). The customer seemed perfectly reasonable, spoke coherently and intelligently throughout, and was on board with our defense theory.

Less than a minute into the land'due south opening statement, the client stands upwardly and, in a level vocalism, affair-of-factly begins objecting to the court'due south jurisdiction because the flag had fringe and he refused to be bailiwick to admiralty law…

Things did not go better afterward that.

My beginning (and last) trial equally a young lawyer was on a legal assistance certificate. I took on the case a calendar week earlier trial, representing the wife in a divorce affair. The guess had ruled that there were to be no more adjournments or postponements. The just issue at trial was the quantum and duration of spousal support payable to the wife by the husband. Iv days before trial, I received an offering to settle from the husband's lawyer, on the depression side of reasonable. The married woman rejected it outright. In my jurisdiction, if you refuse an offering to settle earlier trial and do worse than the offering, the judge can guild the loser to pay the winner'due south legal fees for the wasted time at trial.

Iii days before trial, I concluded that she was incapable of properly instructing me. 2 days before trial, I learned that I was the tenth lawyer on the instance. She had either fired the others or they had quit. I 24-hour interval before trial, I decided that I had no idea what I was doing and that I was better suited to be a real estate or corporate lawyer. On the day of trial, my client showed upward tipsy. I called her to the stand up to testify and she was sworn in. Halfway through my first question, she interrupted me turned and looked at the judge. "Your Majesty," she said, "I would similar to brand a speech."

The gauge looked at me. I shrugged my shoulders. The husband's lawyer slipped me a piece of paper… "Notice of Withdrawal of Offer to Settle." The wife made her speech.

After her voice communication, the estimate looked over at me. "I accept nothing more to offer, my Lord," I said sheepishly.

In the finish, the estimate ignored the husband's show and his lawyer'southward arguments. He ignored the wife's speech near the married man'south infidelities. And he ignored my inability to offering anything useful to bolster my client's position. He did the right thing. He ordered support for the married woman. The amount included living expenses, the price of therapy, and the cost of skills evolution and grooming that would eventually permit her to obtain employment and support herself.

I switched over to transactional law.

Too Many Changes

As a young attorney, I took the second chair on a civil trial where we ended up with an appointed guess. We moved locations during the trial twice. The last "courtroom" was a adequately big town hall auditorium coming together room that had some HVAC issues.

One day, the temperature was well into the 80s. Later a witness was questioned, we all looked to the estimate for a ruling. The estimate, an older gentleman, did not respond. Everyone in the room—lawyers, jury, back up staff, witness—thought he had died. The plaintiff'due south lawyer asked if we may approach, simply in that location was no response so we all walked up—a decent distance as this was in no style a regular courtroom. When we got there, the judge suddenly snapped awake. He apace adjourned for the day, although it was still morning time.

Information technology ended up beingness my biggest loss e'er. Our skillful was terrible on the stand though nationally acknowledged and neat in his degradation. The plaintiff'south expert was of a similar caliber only was very good on the stand. We ended up settling while dealing with mail-trial motions. A couple of years later, I ran into the judge who said he was glad we settled as he was going to rule we were entitled to a new trial.

Don't End Them Now

During my beginning time appearing in court, I was prosecuting a stop sign violation as a student attorney. Once the defendant was sworn in, she said, "Earlier y'all ask whatever questions, I just want to say that I did run the stop sign, but information technology was just likewise icy and I couldn't stop because I was going too fast." Once I lifted my jaw off the floor, I looked over at the gauge and he gave this approving nod-smile combo similar, "Yes, I'm thinking what y'all're thinking, baby lawyer." I said way too proudly, "The prosecution rests its example, Your Honor."

And just similar that, I was 1-0 without asking a single question, much less saying any meaningful words.

The Spy Guy

I had a nasty custody battle, and so much so, that the ex-mother-in-law retained a private investigator to sentinel my customer and see if her boyfriend came over when the kids were present. (A previous courtroom order barred the boyfriend and kids from having contact).

The father moved for a antipathy hearing, stating that she had violated the no-contact social club. In my office, she swore she didn't. On the day of the hearing, the private investigator was total of huff and buff and was called to the stand past the father'southward counsel. He proceeded to read off a litany of dates where he had videotaped the beau entering the house. I grabbed a calendar and noticed that all the dates he read off were dates the father had custody of the kids, and thus, kids were not present in the firm when the boyfriend was in that location.

Cross-examination time: I made absolutely sure of every date. Then, I showed the calendar to the individual investigator and asked him to read off the days of the week corresponding to the dates. He did and so. I then handed him a copy of the visitation club and asked him to read off the sentence which detailed what days of the calendar week the father had custody. He began to meet his error. I asked him,

"By the way, to be clear, none of your videos contain any of the kids do they?"

"Nope."

"How much were y'all paid to do surveillance?"

"$3,000.00…"

My last departing shot across the bow: "Are you going to be giving Mrs. 10 a refund?"…Objection… Sustained…

I won. The other attorney and I still express joy about this and it has been a good 10 years.

The Social club Couldn't Handle Her

I was representing a plaintiff on a hit-and-run example. The plaintiff was testifying and was, despite our preparations, an absolutely terrible witness for her own case. Similar, she couldn't even identify the street she was crossing when she was striking by the machine. (It was a major highway and we had gone through the sequence of events countless times the solar day earlier the hearing.)

The "gotcha" moment came during cross-examination. The defense counsel pulled out a picture of my customer dressed up and set up to hit the club, which was posted to Facebook the solar day later on the alleged accident. I, thinking quickly, objected because the timestamp referred to when it was posted, non when information technology was taken. The defense counsel showed the moving-picture show to my client and asked her when the picture show was taken. Sure enough, she said it was taken the day after the accident when she was supposedly in unbearable pain.

No Mistakes Needed

I was a infant lawyer in my offset twelvemonth representing the 19-twelvemonth-old child of some rich people in San Mateo County, California. My client had gone on a bit of a shoplifting spree and we were cleaning all her cases upwardly with a global plea (meaning we handled them all at once).

Being new, I filled out the plea form incorrect, swapping the counts she was charged with for the counts she was pleading to. It'southward an easy mistake to make. Every court has its own unique form and I was unfamiliar with San Mateo's.

The judge calls my line, starts reading off the plea form, notices the mistake so starts screaming at the elevation of his lungs, "COUNSEL! WHAT IS THIS?! WHAT IS THIS?! IS THIS YOUR Starting time DAY ON THE Task? THIS IS A COURT OF LAW AND WE Do NOT ACCEPT MISTAKES! Fill THIS PLEA Form OUT CORRECTLY OR I WILL HAVE YOU TAKEN INTO CUSTODY FOR CONTEMPT!"

I did not expect a reaction like that. My customer, who was wearing an all-pink velvet tracksuit, was looking at me like I was the biggest idiot in the world.

I corrected the plea class. The judge made me await until the very end of the agenda to have my plea. Afterward, he called me up to the bench. In private he told me, "Sorry to ream you similar that. Everyone messes the plea form upwardly then I e'er pick the youngest lawyer to yell at. The older guys will mumble and mutter, merely if you noticed they all fixed their own forms and we didn't have any more problems. Keeps the calendar running smooth. Where did you go to constabulary school?" Afterward that, he invited me to his function for coffee and gave me some really skillful work communication. Turns out, he likes talking to new lawyers.

Sticks and Stones

The person I was representing was on trial for attack in the third caste and a DUI. In my state, A3 means you've assaulted an aid worker or law officer and that is a felony. The allegations were that he was very verbally abusive to the officers and, at ane point, kicked i in the face.

We're sitting at the defendant's table and the officer is testifying near the statements my guy fabricated to him. It included some pretty horrific name calling. Out of nowhere, my client screams, "You're a liar! Screw you!"

We lost that trial.

Another time, the judge asked a customer whether anyone had coerced him into pleading guilty, and he said, "Yes, my attorney." I just about went #ii in my pants, only he laughed and said, "I'm joking. No."

Raking in the Cash

I was at a hearing arguing that my customer was wrongfully terminated because the employer failed to abide by the proper procedures. During the hearing, a witness for the employer tried to offer documents that were fraudulently contradistinct in order to make it look like the proper procedure was followed. I noticed the amending. The opposing counsel chop-chop got that witness out of the room, and afterwards a quick adjournment, my client got a large settlement.

Behind Everyone'southward Back

Medical malpractice defense lawyer here representing hospitals and doctors. For context, usually at trial, both the plaintiff and defendant will take an expert physician testify every bit to their opinion on whether the doctor or hospital performed everything correctly.

I thoroughly researched the plaintiff's proficient, who was an OB-GYN. I found out he had been suspended a number of times for his own botched deliveries and for giving incorrect medical testimony to assist plaintiff'southward cases.

During the actual solar day of trial, turns out he was non licensed to practice medicine independently without supervision from another physician and he was 1 yr into his three-twelvemonth suspension. The plaintiff's lawyers had no idea almost their ain good'due south background and they just sabbatum there with a bare look on their face. Needless to say, during cross-examination, we destroyed his credibility and won at trial.

Back Again, Huh?

I represented a pro bono customer that had just turned 18 and was charged with serious property damage. I walked into his bail hearing and the judge looked at him and said, "I knew you'd be back as an adult." The judge and so turned to me and said, "Counselor, you may want to learn about your customer's history." No bail.

The Greatest Show on Earth

I had a domestics hearing over some upshot (final divorce hearing, custody, something like that).

The mother's attorney was a prolific idiot in the customs. He put on a large dog and pony show because clients similar to pay for the billboard. Pretty bad reputation in our legal customs.

The father'due south attorney stood up and attempted to examine his witness. The mom's attorney stood upward and objected to literally every sentence the father'south chaser said. The judge just kind of just sat there, hoping it would all calm down. He eventually told the mom's attorney to sit downwardly, but he kept going. But earlier the judge found him in contempt, the begetter's attorney turned and said, "You may recollect because you're older than me, you lot can treat me with disrespect. You tin hoop and holler all you want but you won't do it at my expense. If you want to put on a bear witness, go join the circus."

Count Those Blessings

I had a pre-trial conference at 9 a.thousand. at a court about two hours away. So, I wake my butt upwards super early on to bulldoze in terrible conditions to the conference. I get there and we're waiting for the other attorney. All the while, I'thousand grumbling to myself about how I'm from out of town and I can nonetheless brand information technology on fourth dimension. Finally, the court calls the other attorney's office and gets a receptionist who tells the states through tears that the other attorney passed away the night earlier. Needless to say, I was but happy to still be alive and we rescheduled for a few months later.

No Laughing Matter

It was fourth dimension for the closing argument in an assault case. I've learned to grow comfortable with my speaking style, and part of that is to cutting loose a bit when information technology is appropriate. So, I shed a light of some of the state's allegations given the testimony past the prosecuting witness. In that location was one guy on the jury console who thought I was just hilarious. I had to await for him to stop laughing.

The "gotcha" moment? When the jurors came back to return a verdict, and the same guy was elected foreman by the other jurors.

The verdict was not guilty.

Trampled Under Foot

I was the defendant, representing a nonprofit that I volunteered for. The plaintiff was a sixty-something grandma who was looking for a retirement settlement afterwards falling out of her jacked upwardly pickup truck in our parking lot. The premise of her case was that our parking lot was in bad shape and that she cruel into a pothole, breaking her leg. Such blow resulted in her having to accept Coumadin and diminished her enjoyment of salads at the Friday night fish fry (no, really).

It was going along fine, until my lawyer put up a photo of the pothole, taken on the day of the incident, filled to the brim with water, after a recent rain. He asked the lady if she had gotten her foot wet, to which she replied that she couldn't call back.

He talked a petty more about how perhaps if her foot wasn't wet, it might have been because she fell out of the truck and didn't really fall into the pothole. He asked once again if her foot was moisture, and she affirmed that yep, her foot was wet.

The "gotcha" moment came when he went dorsum to his desk, flipped through her degradation and read the office where she was extremely adamant that her foot wasn't wet. So, he did some fancy legal stuff. The example was thrown out and I went dorsum to work.

No Time to Lose

I handled a step-parent adoption in law schoolhouse. I was appearing before the court on a motion—I literally just had to submit a written brief and sum upwards my argument so the judge could think virtually it in his chambers for a few weeks. The judge stopped me halfway through my explanation of the motility, said, "I'm ready to sign the final order," and executed it right there on the bench. The client happened to come along for this one and broke downwardly crying before nosotros left the courtroom. I felt x feet alpine.

Well, That Was Fast

One of my beginning trials as a prosecutor was a theft case involving the employees of a metal recycling constitute who had stolen a spool of copper. The other two co-defendants had been bedevilled so I didn't imagine having any issue winning the trial. The manager of the plant was my star witness. Talking to him through the interpreter, I simply assumed he was on board with the prosecution.

He took the stand and nosotros went through some bones questions. At some bespeak, the interpreter says, "He'south a adept person, it was those other guys. I don't think he did annihilation wrong." There was no coming dorsum from that only I delivered my endmost like a gnaw. Not guilty in five minutes.

They Run into Yous

The opposing party (tenant) accused my client (landlord) of putting cameras on the roof of the driveway to spy on the tenant's family. The tenant specifically said she saw my client putting upwards the cameras, except the roof is pretty high and my client is 5'0″. I got the opposing party to admit she lied under adjuration. The judge wasn't as well happy and scolded her.

The tenant, who is about 5'v″, said she stepped on a chair on her tiptoes to remove the cameras. If that was the instance, it was only physically incommunicable for my client to mountain whatsoever cameras according to the tenant's testimony.

On cross-test, the tenant testified that the landlord did not utilize a ladder or chair to mount the cameras, and and then after also testified that she removed the cameras when I asked if she brought whatsoever pictures of the cameras. It was complete rubbish, so no, there were never any cameras.

Numerous Failed Attempts Later on

I was a family unit police paralegal and nosotros had one case that was a total mess. It was articulate from a week in that the mother's only goal was to utterly destroy the father in any mode she could. We wound up getting temporary custody for the father and actually went to trial considering the mother refused to cooperate. The mother was representing herself and then my boss said I could stop by and watch a flake for the experience and to satisfy my ain curiosity.

The mother called co-workers of the father. I'one thousand non sure why, but she asked a female co-worker, "Isn't it true that you told (father) that you think I'thousand a nightmare?" My boss tried to object for relevance only information technology was as well tardily. The witness looked the mother right in the heart and said, "Absolutely."

Needless to say, we won that 1 for the male parent. It'southward been 10 years and the female parent is nevertheless trying to get custody back. She hasn't seen the kid since he was in diapers, but she just won't let her revenge plot go.

There'south No One Quite Like Grandma

I was the prosecutor on a case a few years dorsum with a real lack of concrete evidence, so information technology was pretty much a "he said/she said." The victim was to be my beginning witness during the trial. I prepped her the Friday before trial. One of my standard prep lines is, "Dress like you're going to a job interview." I wasn't going to exist able to see her the morning of trial earlier going on the tape because she had a civil case in another co-operative during my jury choice.

Anyhow, the instance begins, stop voir dire and openings. I phone call her to the stand. She walks in with incredibly done-up braided hair, huge hoop earrings, shiny black leather high heeled knee-high boots, and a pare-tight shiny black leather dress that cut off a bit too far above mid-thigh. The moment she walked in the door, all three of my female jurors started covering their mouths and suppressing laughs. Nosotros lost the case at that moment.

I've since changed my line to: "Wearing apparel like you're going to church with your judgmental grandmother."

So They Noticed the Discover?

I was defending a tenant in an eviction example. At the close of my client's testimony, I thought it would be good to at least offering her testimony about an improper motive for eviction. I asked her, "Why do you think the landlord wanted you out?" Objection, lay opinion, speculation, etc.—overruled—so I echo the question and she answers by maxim, "Um, considering they gave me the observe to vacate?"

We all had a nice chuckle about that one, especially the opposing counsel, who had a veryloud, hearty express joy while gauging the judge's reaction.

The judge ruled in our favor in the end, but it was kind of a pyrrhic victory. Still, that's what she wanted and I won her case—tin can't feel too bad about that.

Money Down the Drain

In a divorce, the attorney asked her customer if his wife prodigal marital assets during the marriage. He said, "Aye, she claims $350 per calendar month on pilus care and nails. In 10 years, that's wasteful dissipation." I asked, given his $350,000 average income as a doctor, if it also wasteful dissipation to spend $5,000 on that toupee that sat on his head. He laughed and said, "I suppose it was."

Those Mall Deals, Though

I had a client who physically assaulted a store clerk in a mall and the entire affair was caught on video. The customer decides to plead guilty, then the merely issue in court is sentencing. I argued for probation with a conditional discharge, meaning that if he finished his probation without any violations, he wouldn't have a criminal record. The approximate accepted my statement and was in the procedure of issuing that sentence. One of the conditions of probation the estimate decided to impose was a restraining gild with the mall so that my customer wasn't allowed to be in the mall until his probation was over.

While the judge is proverb this, my client turns to me and starts complaining loudly; "What do you mean I can't get to the mall?" The approximate stops talking and starts yelling at my client, telling him that he could reject all my arguments and sentence him to jail. The client shut upwards very quickly later that, but later he had the audacity to attempt to argue my bill considering I didn't get him a good enough bargain. Plain, probation with no criminal record wasn't adept plenty.

Can't Find 'Em

I had a case set up for trial. The prosecutor had 2 witnesses, one of whom was adamant that she didn't remember anything. He still had the other, so he wasn't going to dismiss, even though the victim didn't want to go forward. Five minutes earlier trial, his other witness walked into court, looked correct at my customer, looked effectually a little more, and and so said out loud, "Where is [client'due south name]?" She was less than a foot from my client. Charges were dismissed equally fast as the prosecutor could move.

Out in the Cold

Last week, I was doing a plea with a accused for a actually minor misdemeanor (just fines, no jail). I thought she was tipsy because her eyes couldn't focus and she was slurring her words. I was a bit curt with her considering of this, and considering she seemed to be stalling to avoid sentencing. As the guess chosen on her to arroyo, she could sign something, and then she started swaying. The bailiff and I lunged to grab her, and we had to telephone call 911.

Turns out, she had walked five miles to the courthouse when it was 28 degrees Fahrenheit and windy. She was in the middle stages of hypothermia.

It's All on Them Now

Robbery case set for trial. Not a skilful example on our side by any stretch, only we had a decent strategy. I'd spent hours prepping testimony with the customer. The trial was near to first and the customer of a sudden gets cold feet. Says he isn't testifying. Period. I spend the next two days trying a robbery case having to modify the defence case on the fly because my customer was no longer testifying.

Putting Their Human foot Downwards

I'd been upwards a long, long time preparing for this appellate hearing, and I had my lines of questioning all prepared, and one of them had to do with whether or not an officer had stuck her foot into a door in a given way. And then I ask, essentially, "Is it true that, after prior to affording appellant the opportunity to deny entry to his residence, you took a specific physical activeness that prevented him from denying entry to the residence and from there proceeded to enter information technology, but at that betoken it was an action you took to prevent him from denying access?"

I don't remember the exact wording, simply it was complete gibberish. Subsequently a moment of dislocated silence, the judge asked me "Counsel, are you asking if Detective Ten put her foot in the door?"

And I'k like, "…Yep, your honour."

It wasn't great. Reading the transcript was worse.

Who Says You Can't Go Domicile?

It was a civil jury case where it was existence decided whether my client had given a house to his girlfriend through a written or implied contract.

At that place was a typewritten document (unsigned) that the other side said the client gave to the girlfriend showing his intent to requite her the firm. The client was adamant to us that it was on his computer as a typhoon and that she'd gone into the computer and printed it out herself; he never gave it to her.

At the trial, when the opposing counsel asked it, he had given her the letter and said, "I might have… information technology's possible, I'yard not actually certain." The second he said it, I calmly wrote to co-counsel and said, "We're screwed." He responded with, "I know."

There went the case and the $625,000 house.

Client blamed us of course.

Living a Lie

I'm a bankruptcy and foreclosure lawyer. In bankruptcy, you have a 341a meeting, where the trustee sits down with the debtor (the person who filed bankruptcy) and their lawyer if they are represented. They are asked questions about their property and their debts, and it's under oath. Before you tin can even file, nosotros sit down for a long meeting where we review every single thing you own and every nugget you have and so we tin can make sure everything is accurate. There shouldn't exist any surprises at these meetings.

At this item meeting, the trustee asks the debtor if he has whatsoever other vehicles than the auto he listed. He says no. The trustee then shows him a motion-picture show he printed from Google Maps showing a huge recreational vehicle parked outside his house and asks if this is his address, his house, his RV. The debtor says yep to all of them. I get aroused considering dude deliberately lied to me virtually this. He says he didn't list it because he's planning on selling information technology. The trustee makes him paw over the keys at the meetingto avoid repercussions.

Bankruptcy fraud is no joke.

Thanks for Zippo

I had a divorce customer lie and start to throw me under the motorbus to a approximate, proverb I had never advised her regarding the effects of certain provisions in an agreement. We had discussed the item provisions and their effects at least 20 times.

I interrupted my customer and immediately asked for permission to withdraw from the instance as I could not continue in the representation of a client that I knew was lying on the stand.

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