Going to Trial?
by Laurie Pickle
It is incredible the amount of time that goes into preparing for a trial. Even more incredible is the amount of time it takes to settle a case. You may be thinking days, weeks, perhaps months, but I am talking minutes.
This semester Jennifer Rutherford and I had the opportunity to take a case to trial. This is a case that had been with the Clinic for almost a year. It had passed through the hands of three other interns and many, many memorandums later it landed in our laps. Upon receiving this case we found out it had to be tried by the end of October or fall to the perils of dismissal. Talk about pressure! The previous interns had put in a lot of work on this case; however, many complicated issues remained and at times it seemed as if we would not be ready for trial by the end of October.
For starters, the opposing party had not answered the interrogatories that were sent in the early part of the summer. We finally got a response to those about a week or two into the semester. The defendant's answers were beyond vague. We needed answers and we needed them fast. So we deposed the defendant, or at least we tried. Jennifer and I spent many hours just reading literature on how to take a deposition. Well you can read all of that stuff until you are blue in the face, but actually doing it is how you learn. It was a great experience. We were nervous, at first, because we were not really sure what to expect. We worried about how to introduce exhibits, whether counsel for the defendant would object to any of our questions, and how stipulations worked. While worrying about these things we didn't focus too much on how to handle the deponent if he started rambling on about nonsense or what to do if he was wiggling out of answering questions. He did a little of both. We did get some information that we needed and we learned what to expect from the defendant at trial, so overall the deposition was a success. Looking back and reading the deposition there are things I would have done differently, but that is what this experience is supposed to be about. It is a learning process and hopefully next time I will remember what I did wrong and change.
With the deposition behind us, we focused on the trial. We had some very good information but we needed more. We needed to talk to someone from the defendant's former employer to confirm some facts. This was perhaps our greatest obstacle. We spent a majority of our time trying to get someone to talk to us. Our hours were taken up by listening to voice mail and leaving messages. At that point I didn't know what I would actually do or say if a live person actually answered the phone. We did end up getting in touch with a few people but they were all very reluctant to talk to us. Now what? Subpoenas! We needed someone to testify. The problem was we didn't know who had the information we needed because no one would talk to us. Two weeks before trial and we still didn't know who our witness would be. We got in touch with the attorney for the employer and she assured us that we would have a witness. That was a relief; now all we had to do was prepare that witness for trial. At least that is what we learn we are supposed to do, right? WRONG! We called the witness every couple of hours, but our efforts were fruitless. I hate voice mail! We were going into court without having talked to our witness. Talk about panic stricken!
About a week and half before trial we tried to settle the case. We gave an offer, rejected an offer and made another offer. Close, but we were going to trial. The evening before trial we received information that changed everything. We had to work up some new figures and decide how they played into the facts of our case and whether our argument had changed. It didn't seem too bad, at least that night it didn't. The morning was another story. Jennifer, Professor Reynolds and I were all in the Clinic bright and early the morning of trial. We were due at the courthouse at 9 a.m. to meet our client. We all quickly realized there were problems with the figures we calculated last night and that perhaps given those figures the defendant would ask for some adjustments. We spent the morning recalculating figures over and over. We got to the courthouse and informed our client of the new information and she said to give another offer. About 10 minutes before the hearing was to begin, the defendant and his attorney arrived. We met with his attorney for less than 5 minutes and explained our new offer. He went out into the hall and told his client of the offer. It took him less than 2 minutes to tell his client the offer and get him to accept it. As soon as the defendant and his attorney walked back into the room we went into the courtroom and told the judge we just settled.
What happened? We were going to trial. We had our arguments set, facts to back us up, we even planned how to deal with the unruly defendant when he was on the stand. Months of hard work gone in a flash. We were not prepared to deal with the whirlwind of settlement. All of that excitement, anticipation, and nervousness gone in an instant. Was it a disappointment? A little, but we got a favorable result for our client and the experience we gained was invaluable. Settlements are a result of hard work.
Interns Caught In the Act of Being Interns
Chris Etzel
Mike Ellsworth
Laura Allen
Abigail Robinson
Chris Etzel
Mike Ellsworth
Laura Allen
Abigail Robinson
