After the trial I went to The Palm restaurant all by myself for lunch. Sat at the bar and had the executive lunch to celebrate busting my ass for a month and succeeding. It was a lonely and dissatisfying meal. I felt like all the air had gone out of my step. The service was lackluster. That location has since closed. Most restaurants are closing these days now that I’ve stopped going to them.
Jury trial. Also they deliberated a long time and as they were leaving they all looked really pissed and didn’t offer any comments at all. One juror lingered and was giving the other lawyer a debriefing in the hallway as I left the courthouse. I think she was the holdout that was outvoted in the end. Juries are kind of scary. During the trial they tend to look disinterested and less engaged, but I think most people take it pretty seriously, and some people take it way too seriously. Also there’s a lot of kooky people out there. It’s hard to be a defense lawyer and stand up to a jury and convince them to give an injured person a big fat goose egg.