Work and Flying Home With No Keys
We had another busy week. It started on Monday when I went to Eugene for a trial the following day. A couple of people at my office didn’t think the trial would actually go, but that we would settle the case. I was hoping otherwise. On Monday, I took Jodie to Eugene with me to prepare our witnesses for trial. Jodie is a new paralegal at our office. Though she just graduated from law school, she isn’t ready to be an attorney yet. I took her with me to show her how everything comes together at a trial.
We first met with our witnesses and then we went to Kinkos to blow up some exhibits. During this time, I had a couple phone calls with the plaintiff’s attorney and it was apparent we were not going to settle the case. Yeah!! We went to Marche’s for dinner and it was just a little too fancy. We stayed at The Hilton because it is literally across the street from the courthouse, though I was not impressed with the hotel. No free breakfast, no free internet, no refrigerators in the rooms and it was expensive.
On Tuesday, we went to trial. The presiding court assigned our case to Judge Merten. It was a good draw for us. Judge Merten granted my pre-trial motion to prohibit plaintiff from telling the jury the total amount of medical expenses, including those expenses written off. This is an unsettled law in Oregon and I was thrilled to have it go my way. Trial was great! I learned plaintiff was not calling her treating physician, as I had anticipated, but was instead calling a physician who only reviewed her records. I had Jodie contact our firm and get information about the physician. To my surprise, I learned the physician was disciplined and could not treat patients. Further, he had his license suspended for 3 years in the past and revoked for a month on another occasion. The cross examination was so much fun! The examination was tense because the physician was not happy with me and I plainly thought he was lying. Some of what he said contradicted the treating surgeon’s description of her injuries. His answer to my last question was “Asked and answered.” I firmly told him to answer my question. So much fun!
The next day, we finished trial a little after 2:00 p.m. Jodie said my closing was awesome! I don’t know if it was awesome, but it felt good. While waiting for our verdict, we went to see Judge Velure. It was nice to visit with him again. Our jury returned around 50 minutes later with a defense verdict!!! It was my first truly defense verdict and I got it with a 10-2 jury – I had a juror to spare. I loved it! I learned that before trial, until the butterflies clear, I get a little nervous. Yet, once the trial starts, the butterflies leave and I’m in the zone! That’s why I went to law school!
The next day was Thanksgiving. We flew out early that morning to Spokane. We stayed with mom and dad until Saturday morning. Rick and Denine and their 6-week old daughter Sophia were there too. On Friday, we brought grandpa over to mom and dad’s house to watch the Civil War game. Too bad U of O lost. It was nice to spend time with everyone.
On our way home, as we sat in the plane, we realized we probably left our keys in mom and dad’s house. Bummer! Mom confirmed it when we landed in Portland. Mike and I had to take the Max home, then use our spare home key to get into the house, then grab the spare car key and drive back to the airport to pick up our car. It took an extra 3 hours, but at least we solved the problem.
