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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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