The Gambler

After I had the most fun a lawyer can have in a courtroom, I went downstairs to watch some of my good friends here in the Trenches try their case.  It was frustrating to watch, much less to participate in. Their judge had no expression whatsoever.  He never looked up.  Heck, I forgot to turn off my cell phone, it went off - loudly, and he never noticed.  It wasn't that he wasn't listening.  Questions and comments he made during the hearing showed he was.  He just never looked up from his legal pad.  They were arguing to the top of his head.  Witnesses would look to him while they were answering questions; he never made eye contact.  To say it was a frustrating experience for lawyers and witnesses alike would be an understatement.  To top it off, the hearing started late because the judge called everyone in chambers to try to settle the case.  In chambers, he shared his thoughts.  Like in my case from yesterday's post, they were not favorable to my Trenches friends.

Did my friends go for broke in the courtroom?  No, they did not.  But wait, didn't you say yesterday that when you have a case you're pretty sure you'll lose, you should go for broke?  No, I did not.  What I did say was that you have to weigh a lot of factors.  One of them is the judge.  Is there an argument that will sway the judge?  In this case, sadly, the answer is "no."  What kind of a hearing is it?  Is it a hearing that is important to the ultimate resolution of the case?  How important is it?  Is it important enough that you can't afford to lose?  If so, can you win in some other way, say by building a record and appealing any ruling?  Might losing actually put you in a better position to get more for your client later on?  Only the lawyer knows.  Again, it's part of what we do.  Here in the Trenches.