So I had my first criminal trial down at the Cook County Criminal Court (26th & California) last week. As the defendant’s lawyer I had a pleasant experience…I thought my case was strong. Here’s a previous post about the case. Ruling to come next month so we’ll really see how “pleasant” it really was in about 30 days here. 
One thing I did like about the criminal setting was my perception at least that those judges are used to making decisions and running trials. During most of my court work in civil land with many judges it feels like they want to avoid trials and avoid making decisions at all costs which often leads to unnecessary frustration and delay. Granted, it’s a fine line between encouraging settlement and unnecessary delay, but eventually like Richard Nixon supposedly said to candidate Dwight D. Eisenhower during the “fund controversy” during the 1952 election, “you’ve got to sh&$%# or get off the pot.”
Another learning point was one that young lawyers likely must learn repeatedly early in their careers (and perhaps non-young lawyers). And that is simply getting comfortable with the feeling of never really knowing everything and being 100% prepared. In the back of my mind I’ve often thought that at some point I’ll be real comfortable and confident heading into all of my meetings and particularly court appearances. But that’s not so and I don’t think that’s the nature of being an attorney. The reality is you’re constantly dealing with changing statutes, court rules, and different fact patterns and being all-knowing isn’t possible. I was nervous heading into my first criminal court case but in knowing the case backwards and forwards, doing the legal research, and talking with a few colleagues I was as ready as I possibly could be.
And that’s usually all you can do. Now to master that mindset for those future unusual cases…
