I Miss Court.

We have adjusted to our locked-down litigator lives. Zoom depositions. Video and court call appearances. Working from home. Video mediations. Empty offices. Causal attire. Masks. Distance. Worries about getting others sick, about parents/loved ones, about getting sick. Cases move forward, discovery proceeds, motions are heard, depositions are taken, trials are set, cases are settled, new cases are filed. And the months pass. It has all kinda’ worked. It’s ok.

But, you know, …

I really miss being in a courtroom. The whole thing. Walking into the courthouse. Riding the elevator up packed with lawyers. Seeing and chatting up friends in the halls. Sitting with colleagues waiting through a long calendar for my matter to be called. Hearing other lawyers argue their cases. Interesting motions, stupid motions. Good arguments, stupid arguments. The judge-lawyer banter. Happy judges, terse judges, hard-to-read judges. Hearing my matter called. Appearing. Arguing. CMCs. TRCs. In-limines. Standing up to give opening. Cross-examining witnesses. Closing. Waiting on a jury. Taking a verdict. Winning. Losing. Those nobody-wins results. Even just walking back to the office along a crowded downtown sidewalk. All of it.

I miss court.