August 26, 2012

Civic Duty

Recently, I found myself back in DC Superior Court. Not for "court-sitting" or for a client, but for jury duty. Not even lawyers can get out of jury duty in DC, though it's a point of contention if many actually get selected for a trial. In DC, any citizen can be chosen for jury duty as long as there is no felony on their criminal record, and no one can be chosen again for 24 months.

Here's an account on how my day went.

8:10 am -- I got in line outside the Jurors Office with about 30 others waiting to check in.

8:25 am -- After checking in, you get sent to the jurors' lounge to wait until you are called for a trial. The lounge is brightly lit and fairly comfortable with a few amenities, including free wi-fi Internet access and a business center with access to fax and copy services.

8:52 am -- Finally watching the orientation video. It's long. There's an explanation of voir dire and a note not to take it personally if counsel uses a peremptory challenge to strike you.

10:00 am -- Watching the orientation video. Again. For the "9:30 group."

11:26 am -- The disembodied intercom voice finally calls a bunch of people out of the lounge to get empaneled on an actual jury.

12:00 noon -- Still here. Just wrote a blog post about Chick-Fil-A.

12:42 pm -- I can hear someone snoring loudly, even though I'm wearing headphones. A woman chuckles.

1:00 pm -- Lunch. Had a conversation with a client.

2:35 pm -- The disembodied intercom voice tells all jurors to assemble in the lounge for a "status report." People wonder if it means we're getting dismissed for the day.

2:47 pm -- Dismissed! For two years!

Without jurors, our justice system does not work. When you get a jury summons, don't just throw it out or ignore it -- show up. Or use the proper court procedures to get out of it if you absolutely need to.

This blog is an advertisement for the Law Office of Philip R. Yabut, PLLC, and the information in this post is not to be construed as legal advice, nor does reading it form an attorney-client relationship. Please do not post confidential information in the comments section.

July 16, 2012

Adventures in Court-Sitting, Part III: City of Alexandria

by Philip Yabut in law firm management

Compared to the behemoths in DC and Fairfax, Alexandria City's Franklin P. Backus courthouse seems tiny, which is understandable because Alexandria is a city of "only" about 139,000. Inside, the hallways are stately but simple, and the General District and Circuit courtrooms have an old-time feel, with large windows, high vaulted ceilings with chandeliers, and paintings of judges of years past on the walls. And unlike some of the newer judicial buildings in the DC metropolitan area, Alexandria's halls of justice are brightly colored and make great use of natural light, giving an almost cheerful atmosphere -- if only your matter weren't so serious. The docket was light that day with no family law cases on the schedule, so I spent the first part of the morning checking out traffic court. Unlike my experiences in Fairfax and DC, the courtroom was sparsely populated with folks challenging tickets, and the judge zipped through uncontested cases in lightning speed. Later, I picked up the tail end of a civil docket, a very short small claims session, and a couple of more hardcore criminal cases in Circuit Court.

Another observation: since the courthouse is in the middle of Old Town Alexandria, the surrounding neighborhood is a lot less forbidding than its counterparts in DC and Fairfax and Arlington. Don't forget to get a sandwich or visit the waterfront after your day in court.

June 22, 2012

Adventures in Court-Sitting, Part II: DC Superior

by Philip Yabut in law firm management

On an extremely hot early summer morning, I embarked on my second day of courthouse self-orientation observation tours, this time the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. In short, it was an exercise in re-orientation and sampling the nuances of DC's trial court.

This wasn't the first time I had visited the H. Carl Moultrie Courthouse, but every time I go I am amazed by the controlled chaos inside. The courthouse is very reminiscent of a busy commuter train station. There is a grand central lobby with a giant message board listing all of the judges and their courtroom numbers. From that lobby you see wide hallways leading to rows of courtrooms, with plenty of seating for anyone waiting for their cases to come up, and each room's daily docket is usually taped on the wall next to the door. On a normal day, there are dozens of people milling around, conferring with their families and/or attorneys or simply waiting around in silence.

The courtrooms themselves are unique in that the gallery seats are nothing like church pews, but are padded with arms like in a movie theater. The room setup is circular, with a large round lit structure on the ceiling over the judge's bench, which makes it look like you're looking up inside the Hirshhorn Museum's "donut hole." I sat in on a morning criminal docket, so I saw a few shackled defendants being led in and out of the holding room for scheduling hearings and guilty pleas. There wasn't much else for me to see that morning, but it still was worth my time.

June 19, 2012

Adventures in Court-Sitting, Part I: Fairfax County

by Philip Yabut in law firm management

As a new-ish solo practitioner, I am constantly looking for ways to increase both my experience and exposure in the field. Recently, I had a morning scheduling conference for a divorce case in Fairfax County, Virginia, and since those proceedings normally last no more than 10 minutes, I decided to make the trip out there worth my while by watching random court proceedings.

I took in a sampling of cases in General District and Traffic courts in order to get a feel of what these proceedings are like since I have never practiced in them before (I already have some limited experience in Circuit and Juvenile and Domestic Relations courts). This is what I learned:

* Cops don't recognize the popular concept of "rolling stop." Neither do judges.

* If you ask a witness a question, don't interrupt him before he fully answers. Judges don't like that.

* General seating in a courtroom can be really tough on your back.

* Never, ever let someone use your driver's license to operate a vehicle, even if it's your our own brother and you love him dearly. You might end up with a criminal record without actually doing anything wrong.

Besides that, I did get one very important lesson reinforced out of watching other lawyers practice law in front of judges. Even if s/he disagrees and rules against you, a judge will always appreciate a good advocate.