When Follow Our Courts first launched, I was writing a weekly column to talk about the events I attended, things I learned, people I met, awards I saw bestowed and thoughts I had thereof.
I quickly stopped.
Follow Our Courts has a diverse audience of people in the legal profession and people who know little about how lawsuits and trials work.
I could not figure out how to write about legal things for both audiences.
As someone in the latter category, I would learn something that fascinated me – oh an appeal isn’t a retrial? – and type it up enthusiastically. Then I would read it as if I were an attorney, and I would delete it, worried they would think they were not the Follow Our Courts audience.
I may start again.
This month I attended the Hispanic Bar Association of the Inland Empire’s Winter Dinner, and my favorite thing happened, and I wanted to write about it.
All the conversations at my table came to a hush, because an attorney sitting with us was telling her story.
I don’t know what I love more than a conversational story.
I’m bad at making conversation. I usually start by asking what kind of law someone practices and then after they answer I look at my feet in panic. Some people are born to be copy editors instead of reporters.
Reporter Aidan McGloin is amazing at mingling, which, when he is able to attend with me, lets me stand shyly by and look at my feet.
In October I visited my daughter in Colorado, and attended the church where she sings in the choir. The pastor and many of the attendees were wearing buttons that said, “Tell me a story.” I grabbed a button out of a basket on my way out and pinned it to my backpack.
After 34 years as a journalist, on my way home from the HBAIE event, I realized I should be saying, “Tell me your story,” instead of, “What kind of law do you practice?” I’m going to try this at the next event, so if you’re a lawyer, fair warning.
I’ve come a long way in my understanding of the legal industry – go ahead, ask me how appeals work – in the three years since we launched, and I likely earn enough MCLE credit every year to stay in good standing as a California attorney, but I haven’t yet made much progress at attending industry events with social finesse and then writing about them in a way that connects with everyone.
Nevertheless, I would love to succeed at this. I want to talk to you more (well, type at you), and I think it’s important to report back how present I am when you celebrate your colleagues, detail the courts’ challenges, discuss ethical issues, give advice and share your stories.
I hadn’t asked the delightful storyteller at my table at the HBAIE dinner if I could publish her story, but if you ever meet a young attorney named Tonie, trust me, say, “Tell me your story” to her.
This week I will publish all the columns I have written but not published this fall:
- Roundtable discussion on civil rights enforcement
- WSBCBA Installation of Officers and Awards
- AI and Gen AI in Law and Public Service
- HBAIE Winter Dinner
- No Matter How Thin the Pancake, It Always Has Two Sides: Hardball Tactics for Offense and Defense in Hardball Negotiations
- DBA Hall of Fame Dinner
Looking forward to sharing my stories and hearing more of yours.
Have a merry and safe Christmas.
