Scouting The Opposition In A Florida Courtroom

A quiet Friday finds me sitting in a courtroom, watching a trial that is definitely not the trial of the century. The young man at the defense table has been accused of the crime of disorderly conduct. He allegedly danced naked in the street near his home after midnight one night. Some dogs noticed, and woke their owner. She looked out the window, saw the show, and called the cops.

Two young prosecutors are presenting their case. One is brand spanking new. One has been on the job for a year or so. Their supervisor sits in the row behind me. The young man sits with his two lawyers. His main lawyer is herself fairly new, and she is accompanied by her supervisor.

Why am I here, I can imagine the young man asking.

You might ask me the same question. I will answer it about him in another post. I will answer that existential question about myself here and now.

I want to see if these young lawyers have game. I am scouting.

I am not in the market for another lawyer at my firm – not today, anyway. But I have learned over the years that one should always have a short list, in case help is needed.

The main reason I am here in court scouting is so I can help my clients. My job involves analyzing information and predicting outcomes. The information includes evidence, and law. But it involves much more.

An arrest is not a conviction. How a case might look on paper is often quite different from how it might play out in a courtroom. Lawyers do make a difference.

So here I am. Scouting. Doing recon.

Learning the strengths and weaknesses of prosecutors I will no doubt do battle with myself. So I can take their skill set into account when advising my clients.

And so it goes.