Just the tip

I have spent the better part of today getting ready for an upcoming trial. For me, this process begins by taking an unruly file and thinning out the duplication in it and pitching the worthless crap out of it. (Seriously, I do not need fax cover sheets from four years ago). Every time I have a trial or major court hearing, this is the process that I start with.

I do not know what it is, but by doing this, I can spread the entire file out on my office floor, and just survey the carnage. I can see the time I forgot that the case was up for a court status and it got dismissed because I missed the call or when I got the Defendant to admit a damning fact during the deposition. It’s a mindless process, but for me, it reestablishes my connection with the case and allows the heavy lifting to become a lot easier. Earlier today, I could not walk/hop/jump/run/skip away from my desk without stepping on paperwork from this file.

There is a problem with this method: I usually end up with at least one really bad papercut. Let it be known, that I cannot read a deposition transcript while blindly shove my hand into a redwell full of paper. I now have a large papercut on the tip of my middle finger. It hurts. And it bled.

Maybe the strategy here is not to get organized before trial, but to bleed over the important documents so as to strike fear in the opposition. At least, this is what I’m going to tell my boss when he asks about the blood on the deposition transcript.