- Quickdraw McLaw
- 16 Comments
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One thing a lot of people don’t realize is that not all attorney jobs are the same. Some of us are in court a lot, while some of us are almost never in court. How often are you in court? Which area of law do you think spends the most time actually in court? If you want to be a litigator that is frequently in front of judges what area of practice should you be in?
How often do you go to court?
Just an educated guess, but I think the district attorneys/criminal defense guys are probably in court the most and get the most judicial face time. After that, I think family court practioners are there quite a bit.
For any lawyer relying on billable hours, court appearances are great. A virtually meaningless appearance before the Discovery Commissioner nets a sweet 3.0 (4.0 if prep time is billed separately). Status checks are similarly wonderful. Judicial settlement conferences, ditto. None of these activities help the client much, but they sure help that billing associate get to 2000 for the year (and a nice bonus check).
Is it any wonder people are so comfortable bashing lawyers?
Criminal first, then CD. Unless you mean meaningful appearences, and not just appearences at umpteen parties' motions for determination of good faith.
Doing Plaintiff's PI work, I was in court daily. On the Defense side, 2-3 times a month maybe.
who goes the least? real estate transaction people?
Looks like the US attorney's filed a motion for departure recommending Zobrist be sentenced according to Level 29 instead of Level 30 for his "cooperation" as part of the plea deal. We'll see if he actually gets sentenced tomorrow.
What a reward-the guideline for Base Offense Level 29 with no criminal history is 87-108 months.
With any luck, the Court will take the government's motion for a downward departure and run with it, considering the only real factor for a level 30 offense in the first place is the amount of the loss, and that number is squirrelly at best.
Mahan is the smartest, most common sense judge this state has ever known. Certainly the best on the Fed Bench. He will get it right. Whatever "right" is.
A veritable judicial genius to be sure. He is basically our generation's Learned Hand. He not only brings his immense intellect to the bench, but an exemplary temperment. Every time a Supreme passes or steps down I fear that we'll lose Mahan to the High Court.
I see that both of Judge Mahan's law clerks have decided to chime in!
I see that sarcasm eludes you, 12:51.
Anybody planning on sitting in?
Criminal attys in the public sector. DAs. PDs. Even JAG attys. Spend more than 1/2 their time in Court. That's why they become stellar litigators when they choose higher paying jobs later in their careers.
@7:55,
Being a stellar civil litigator is one thing. Being a stellar trial attorney is something different. In most cases, the two skillsets barely overlap.
September 4, 2013 at 9:12 AM – 3.0? Really? Even if your client pays you for travel time, Are you coming in from Pahrump?