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4 Litig. Docket 1 (1998-1999)

handle is hein.journals/litigadoc4 and id is 1 raw text is: A PUBICATION OF THE SECTION OF LrrIGATION AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION * FALL 1998 * VOLUME 4 NURMER I New chair looks to draw in members I-pu',WER not eebers of tho Section of Litigation cannot make its meetings. And most members of the public cannot quito u ietand the trial process. Thoos truisrs underlie the goals of the new louir of tie Section, Barbara M.G. Lynn of Dallas. In outlining her plans for the '98-D year, Lynn speaks of general approaches, the internal and tie external. tier first target is Section members I'd like to See LIS work even harder to get the good works we do and the good iriforniation we provide t,) all of our members. We orvi- ousl,, do that well through our publications, but tie vast nmaority of our members cannot or will not come to our progrers- So how does she hope to change things? I want to work even harder oir technology and on ways that we Can easily get informa- tion to our nemiers. i a recent random Section survey, the vast majority of thrse responding had computer capacity, even though a lot of Ohm ere in Smaltl rirs. More than 90 perent hall computers, either in their offices or at home. I think we cal do better in Commnieating our inforrmation to our members via the Internet. We': o work- ing on re-doing our Well site, making it irore easily accessiile, providig more un iniore cuirrenrt information or it. Lynn also discussed a new publication aimed specifically at the NeL iull be called Tips from the Trenchr - atipsheetaabout trYing Caes froom both the plaintif rand defense pemspceth,. \Wel-lorowr trial lawyers will pre- pie the material, presenting a new topic every month starting in October, gobgstraight to the Section'o Web site. Later, the information will be sunmnarized ll itigation Neim. And then there's that external goal - tie general public. 'Tar not so naive, Lynn says, that I think at the end of my year as chair lawyers will rocket to the toll of the popularity polls, but I think that ifwe do a better job talking about how and why mire trial process works that Y i an help our own public esteeii in the process. One vehicle will be something that'e been tried, succes fully, before: tre state fadr pro- ject. (For details, see the other article onl this page.) In general, the idea is to show the public in ar informal Setting how the court systoe works. I think that we can put a model in place ail the local bars can keep it going, L4ynn says, if it works well, there's a lot of rnteraction, se says, remembering the first feweyears it vwas tried in Texas. So who is this new Section chair? I have grown IIr as a lawyer in tie Litigation See- tin. I started attendir g meetings of tho Sec- tion when l was a ie-year lawyer, in 107S. tynin's reen with tire same tiror since ste The new chair of the Section, Barbara Lynn (left) getling her skelch done in Toronto. That's one of her daughters, Whilney, and the artisl at Ihe right, started Iiacticing, focusing recently on intellectal property, labor and employment and professional liability. Family? My husband Mike is a trial lawyer also and an incoming committee chair in the Section (Business Torts Litiga- tion). I have two girls, Tara, 16, and Whitney, Si. The older one wants to bea doctor, the younger one doesa't know yet. Whtab sout being lawyers? To re, them's nothing about the career that would be a nega- ive., with oeie exception. rafs the general lack of respect for law)ers teday. It's really a len- table thing tet I would like to eiUigoe. Ifs not inehidog that I dIwel on, but I think Some of these larrerjekes have taken on atone that is really uriforturtate. Our.nters, despite its flairs and despitersome relatively few sxampls of bad bhavior, is ai excellent syxtear that should be appreciated and een applauded M Come one, come all - see the lawyers! Hey, Suilt! Gel off that Ferris wheel end get to work. it's time to check out the legal process at the slate fair. Dl!oa't cristiresuteep-ohearirg contest. Taste the award-wir- ning apple butter and ride the Ferris wheel. Bit, please', no elephant ears in the courtron. Members of the Litigation Section amv reviving the state fair project this year at the Tears State fair in October. The Taril y Jury exhibit nght not be whit yo expect to find at a state fatir, but it's a great chauce for peo pie to get some exorsrm bit the irt sn story telling of criirbal law.The exitbit is more than a mock trial, because it allows partici- pating lawyers to tell war stories and to exlain to the arlicnce exactly whats going or during the trial. It'sjust crazy enough to work - ,od it has in the past, dra'ing thou- onids of people to tie tent to co the nock trials. 'lro Section's comrmittee handling all this is heahed by Kerry Mellugi Breaux, Dal- Ias, and Stephen K. Smith, Idianapolis. Breauxsalhl the Trial byJury progann ,as acthe starting in 1087, but support dropped off alter aheat five yerrs. In the ist, the pro- gr-an was heli at state fairs in Arizona, Col. orrde, Florida, liriana, lowun, Kenturckv, Ma yland, Massachusetls, Mirnesota, Nebi-as ka, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahona, South Car- olina, Texas, Virginia art Wiscorsin. Jurors are pulled from the audierice to participate in realistic mock trials. This year, ttre progran will feature murder, hisur- ane fraud and distribution-of-cocaine cases. The trial will inciudejury seleetior, opening Statements, direct and cross eamination and closing argumensL. The prosecutor aid defense lawyers will be chosen frain the Section's mooborship. In the past, Breaux said, tire judge was the chair of a local comittee arid high,profile lawyers have participated r the mock trial. People thought the trials were rear - they would stop in the tent near the entrance for a while. Former Section Chair Judai Best got the idea to perform mock trials at state fairs when lie saw a Smithsonian Institute program in 1986. This program was differ- ont from other mock trials he had seon, lie said, because, it permitted lawyers to tell war stories, and other programs rigorously avoided that. At the Colorado state fair, the tent was set up next to the pig races so people could drift over. In Maryland, Best Said, people wold watch tire progra one day and bring their frmilis tack the neoxt day. it debunked the nystique of lawyers. I hope tihe new project will be as edueational mud entertaining as it was in the past. Though the program is designed to alluv people to come i and out of the tent, catch- tng bits of the trial, Best said people oteni sit through the whole program, which lasts a couple hours. The program will ho presented Oct. 34 fror I to 6 p.m. This year's exhibit will be in the Science Place Auditiorluni in Dallss' State Fair Park. M Q I I I for

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