Some of you may remember the trials and tribulations of my backyard.  That's a picture of it, finally finished up above.   Now, my front yard, that little postage stamp with the apple tree that bears bushels of fruit each year, needs to be redone.  I agonized over it.  I had in mind something different than the backyard, perhaps a cottage feel.  I poured over books and websites.  I sat across the street and stared at it.  I could not make a decision.  I thought it was because I was tired, not in the mood, unmotivated.  Then, this morning, I started thinking about the apple tree.  What did it need under and around it?  Should I do something special to take care of it?  Turns out that apple trees have special needs.  There are a lot of plants you shouldn't grow under them, and some you should.  I looked up those plants.  I sat down with pencil, paper and the internet.  In an hour, I had the garden planned and the plants ordered.
Life in the Trenches is kind of like planning a garden.  Usually, you have a plan for how a case should progress, and clients have an idea of how their case should go and how the issues should resolve.  Many times, those plans work out and the case concludes satisfactorily.  Sometimes, however, the case just doesn't progress the way it should.  No matter what you try, you can't mesh the other side's needs with those of your client.  Your strategy isn't one with which your client is completely comfortable.  The case feels more difficult than it needs to be.  What's called for in that situation is a step back.  Both the lawyer and the client need to review the client's story and reassess the facts.  Usually, one or the other can find another way to look at the facts, another way to approach the case, another way to move forward with their life.  Suddenly, everything in the case seems easier, a resolution presents itself, compromise is possible and the case resolves.  Here in the Trenches.