one trial down

so tonight was my first trial. most people had partners, but i had to work alone. there were some good & some bad things about that. when i made a mistake, there was no one to catch it or fix it but me. but i got tons of practice.

there is momentum to trial. once it starts, you can't really stop it. you're off & running, and there's nothing to do but go along for the ride. so that's why preparation is so important, i think. you have to anticipate where that momentum will take you. and to some extent you have to control the momentum & make it work for you. it is a bit overwhelming, actually.

but overall i did a good job, according to the teacher. i nailed the closing argument. my opening statement was too short. apparently i did fairly well on the direct examination, evidentiary issues, and other such things. overall, i did a good job. so that's good.

my witness was awesome. i had my friend (who's not in the class--actually she's not even in law school) play 2 different witnesses. she did great. she was a drama queen, but still got out there everything that needed to be said. she was super-easy to work with. so that's great. for the next 2 trials my partner will be playing my witness, so that will be nice too.

anyway, fun stuff. 2 more trials to go. i've got one week til the next one.