• 06
  • July
    2010
It had probably been close to two years since my last appellate court argument.  In the day to day litigation practice, immersing myself in motions, discovery, letter writing, document review, deposition taking and the like, I had forgotten, quite frankly, the intellectual experience of presenting a complicated legal argument to a three or more, before a Supreme Court  judge appellate panel.  About two weeks ago, I was reminded of what the “true practice of law” looks like in operation.

Court of Appeal

I, fortunately, was the “appellee” in a case that was scheduled for hearing before the Second District Court of Appeal in Lakeland.  That means that my side had won at the trial level, and the other side was trying to get the jury verdict in our favor, on a personal injury case, reversed.  The issue in my case, I believe, was fairly straight forward and simple.  After the trial, the jury foreman had written a letter to the judge describing how pleasant and inspiring the experience had been, and providing some insight into the deliberation process.  The other side seized upon this opportunity to argue that it should have the opportunity to interview the juror as to the deliberation, or even have a new trial.  As predicted, the appellate court did not agree with that position, and affirmed the jury’s verdict.

Courtroom Observations

Nevertheless, as I sat in the gallery, waiting for my turn to argue, I had the opportunity to observe a battery of extremely well prepared lawyers, being challenged by incredibly well prepared, attentive, and well mannered appellate judges.  These judges went from hearings on child custody and jurisdictional matters, complicated real estate development issues, sovereign immunity issues, as well as my personal injury jury trial issues.  Each time, the court demonstrated an expertise in each subject matter that completely amazed me.  I left the appellate courtroom wondering why I had never thrown my hat in the ring to become an appellate court judge.  More importantly, I left re-inspired on why I went to law school in the first place.