I am happy to report that Niki and Trial Ad College are no longer seeing each other. Tomorrow there are some loose ends to wrap up when she serves as a witness in someone's case, but really this is just like returning the t-shirts, toothbrush, and random other things. For all intents and purposes, they are over.
This morning I conducted my mock trial and concluded a hellish week of constant working. I'm not kidding when I tell you every single second of my day from 8:30am-5/6pm has been planned out and scheduled for the past week. Then, after 5/6, when I'm supposed to have "personal time" I've been preparing various practice sessions for the next day. I've probably slept a grand total of 30 hours in 7 days. Sure, it's not nothing, but it's about 20 hours less than normal. I'm exhausted.
We won our trial, though. Well, sort of. The jury deliberated for about 10 minutes and gave us a verdict 5-4. When we watched the tape of deliberations, my partner and I both agreed that had they been forced to be unanimous, it's likely that eventually it would've gone the other way, but hell, I'll take what I can get - especially when at publishing time 7 of the 9 groups with verdicts already given gave unanimous verdicts to the other side. The only other defense win was 5-2.
So, I'm feeling pretty good about myself. The judge has just told me I did a great cross-examination and we've got a defense verdict. (No, he didn't say he'd ordered the Code Red, but he totally implied it.) Then they open the jurors up to give whatever criticism or thoughts they may have. The first thing they say - they thought I was going to cry while I was giving my opening. Um...not the reaction I was hoping for! I knew it wasn't superb, but jeez, how do I give off that vibe? I'm blaming lack of sleep, because honestly I was just trying to stay awake. Then again, if I ever have a criminal jury trial, it can't hurt that the person trying to keep someone from the death penalty is about to cry, can it?? Also, I think one of the high school jurors thought I was cute because he kept looking at me the entire trial, so that helped, too.
All-in-all, I'm glad it's over. It was actually kind of fun - there were a couple of surprises about witnesses not being called and our side calling the opposing party, and those totally changed the dynamics.
In case you're interested (which I totally respect if you're not), I represented the big, bad insurance company who was saying Frank Hyde killed himself and therefore his widow did not deserve $1 million from his life insurance policy. She was under the delusion that he'd died in a drunk driving accident and should get the money. Thanks to me and Trevor, she and her four children didn't get a dime. Aren't you guys proud of me?
4 comments:
Congrats, Nik! I was so proud and impressed to think of you up there doing justice. I'm sure the 4 brats didn't need the money anyway, right?
That's definitely a strange comment about expecting you to cry! I remember doing mock sales calls in our Personal Selling class and I got feedback that I needed to smile more! I was horrified because I think of myself as a friendly person, but I was fortunate (?) enough that they were taped and I got to watch myself back and sure enough, I never smiled once! I must have been really nervous and thinking really hard about my product's benefits!
Congratulations! That sounds so cool (and exhausting and nerve-wracking). You rock! :)
Look at you, all lawyer-y!
Were you wearing glasses and sensible shoes?!
hopefully this experience will be as close as you come to truly selling your soul.
seriously, though, congratulations!
also, remember that embarrassing little domestic "event" i was involved in when you used your supreme legal powers to get me off the hook? that was fantastic. the trial was just a day after my trial for assault and trespassing.
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