I had a long day today. Reviewed 5,000 pages of deposition transcripts given by all sorts of doctors -- pathologists, radiologists, oncologists, nephrologists, pulmonologists ... Not a single word was useful! Imagine the fun.
So here is a response to 写写's question -- No, as civil defense attorneys we don't get the morally challenging cases at all, those that make one's job less boring.
However, it does not mean that we would never be torn between duty and conscience. In fact, I had one of those moments not too long ago. The plaintiff was an 85 year-old gentleman who had just been diagnosed with colon cancer. Right after his diagnosis, his counsel filed a motion asking for an expedited trial ... and I had the guts to oppose it!
There were five defendants in that case. I was the only one who did not agree that this poor old man deserved a speedy trial. You can imagine how evil I looked in Plaintiff's reply papers sent to everyone. "All the other defendants managed to show some sympathy to a terribly sick elder plaintiff," Plaintiff said. We had defense meetings every other week. "All the other defendants" could have reminded me to be sympathetic too! It might be easier to jump out the windows than finish reading the reply.
Then there came the oral argument. I was too embarrased to argue the motion myself. I sent a junior assoiate instead: "It would be good for you to experience what it is like being a defense attorney, how it feels to be attacked by your adversary AND slammed by the court."
Underneath my faked concern for his professional growth was my real fear of having to read my mean brief in front of the judge. If I could, I would have taken my name off the signature page altogether.
So there it was, a moment of poor professional judgment. And to give you confidence in our judicial system, my opposition was denied.
10 hours of transcript review on a sunny spring day, what a fun life! ---
我根本就没看出来 ：）除了专业英文，我在其他方面对英文的词汇和表达方式并不是太敏感。这也是我需要努力的地方。我发现写作对于掌握词汇和句式非常有帮助，比单纯的阅读更加有效。所以有时候我也试着写一些英文短文。我觉得你的英文很不错！ 英文对我们都是第二语言，只要一段时间不用立刻就会生疏。我们都一样 ：）
不过我真不觉得你用“character" 有什么不对。我觉得比Capability 更合适。无论是the guts to say no (the guts to say no no matter what :), the confrontation spirit, 还是the assertiveness under pressure, 更多都是性格里面的。Character 这个词在用在这里很生动 ：）
很高兴在这里见到你～～ 看到你喜欢《巨流河》和我的读后感，我特别开心！关于《巨流河》我还有很多很多话要说，但是一直也没有足够的时间把我的想法都整理出来，弄成一篇像样的跟贴放在如蓝的文章下面。这本书给我的感动和启发都太多了！每次重读全书或是任何一个篇章，都仍然让我心潮澎湃。每次看到关于这本书的讨论，我都有很多新的感受想要分享。我相信《巨流河》的价值会越来越得到承认。很多年以后，这本书一定会以傲然的姿态，站立在中华民族文学殿堂的顶端。
写写好～一天５０００页，如果我真读的话我也读不完 ：） 只能是大略看看，挑有关的部分重点阅读而已。大量的 record review 是诉讼律师必须做的苦力，常常读到想吐。
还要谢谢你给了我灵感。我也很想多写一些工作上的事情，即锻炼了文笔，更重要的是也整理了自己的工作思路，当然记下一些有趣的事情也是很值得的。但是常常下班回家脑子都是木的，什么也想不起来。要不是你提醒，这件事我也就忘光了 ：）
当原告要求 expedited trial 的时候，一般都会对被告造成影响 （prejudice),因为开庭提前了，准备工作就要压缩，比如，discovery will be closed earlier. 所以被告Oppose an expedited trial 是很常见的。但是对于年纪在７５岁以上的原告，如果再有身体状况，法庭也会很照顾，倾向于提前开庭。我是个 by the book 的律师，一步都不肯马虎。我当时觉得我有责任Oppose,只是没想到我是唯一的一个，其他的被告都让了 ：） 当时真是有点尴尬的 ：）
谢谢如蓝 ～～ 我看你们的工作也觉得很不可思议 ：）
我的新Profile Photo 就是原来那张照片的油画像啊，能看出来吗？我们认识的一位阿姨照着小Maya那张标准像给画的，上周末才送来给我们做礼物。我们看到以后都惊呆了，画的多好啊！小眼神简直神似！
You job is completely out of my imagination. The reading load, the guts to say no, the confrontation spirit, the assertiveness under pressure, I could find none of these in my character.
You are my hero...BTW, Maya's new look is so fresh. She is mature, feminine and more stylish now.