"The best preparation for good work tomorrow is to do good work today."
A little after six, and already a busy morning as the sun rises over 407 and the bay.
Peg's workday started at 5:30, and we only have one car (a truck, actually) down here this time of year. Thus, I was up and dressed with her, making us both a coffee then driving her to the surgery center. Arriving back here, the worry over having done nothing in this very expensive tax law program that started a few days ago led me to sit down with what was left in my mug and watch the intro videos for the two classes, Corporate Tax I and Taxation of Property Transactions. Combined that only took a little over twenty minutes, and there wasn't any real substance to either lecture, but it's a start, eh? Once this trial is over, I'll lean into the next twenty-eight lectures.
Ah, the trial. It's been almost exactly a year since the last one, and here we are again. This time we're fighting over defective construction of a very expensive home in Gulf County; it seems like most of my trial work these days involves defective construction, a part of the lingering aftermath of Hurricane Michael and all the shoddy work folks exchanged for a sea of insurance money. Here the home was in the framing stage when it got whacked by the storm, but the damage from that day, and the fact that the contractor was dealing with his own issues afterwards, are certainly part of the narrative.
The week before trial is almost as busy as trial week itself. There are literally thousands of photos and documents to review, deciding which to submit as exhibits or to use to guide a direct or cross examination. There's the creation of witness outlines, summarizing of deposition transcripts to be used in cross-examination, anticipating objections and responses to the other side's objections. Later in the week I'll meet with each of my witnesses, and carefully go over their anticipated testimony. If the planning phase goes well, a trial is a lot more scripted than it appears on television, with every question and every answer (even on cross--I have their deposition transcripts as a guide to what they've already said) prepared in advance.
The scripted nature is particularly true where, as here, it's a bench rather than a jury trial. Because a judge is less likely to be misled by evidence that is of dubious value or is arguably inadmissible, the court tends to be more permissive about admissibility, so there's less arguing about whether a letter or a report should come into evidence. If the judge doesn't think much of whatever was offered as evidence, he can simply refrain from relying on it in his final judgment, and it's a dead issue on appeal.
So at this point I'll grab a quick bite, shower and head to the office, and plan on spending the next twelve hours in this exercise.
And when this one's over, there is another trial in the same court two weeks later. Then another two weeks after that, and another a week after that, although the penultimate trial is almost sure to be continued, and we're on the cusp of settling the last case. Fingers crossed--I have a pile of tax coursework to complete.
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