Better Angels

In Tennessee, it's not all bigots trying to keep Muslims out of their towns with bizarrely abusive lawsuits. In Cordova, Tennessee (that's not far from Memphis), a Christian church is allowing a startup Muslim community to use its facilities for worship until it can get its mosque built. The church put up a big sign saying "Welcome to the neighborhood." The pastor explains it thus: "What would Jesus do if He were us? He would welcome the neighbor." Damn right he would have.

Likewise, in Egypt, many Muslims have reacted with horror with attacks by terrorists on Christian worshipers. So some of them formed a human shield around their Christian neighbors going to celebrate Christmas Eve services.* This is as clear a message as I can think of -- if you nutjobs think you're doing Allah's work by killing Christians, you're not, and we Muslims will not allow you to pretend that you're only killing infidels. Take your Koran seriously, especially the prohibition against murder.

I am frequently critical of religion for being used as a justification for acts of outright evil. But these are selfless, challenging, and truly moral behaviors. They are done by people of good intent, good faith, and strong religious convictions, taking the best and most noble dictates of their religions truly to heart. They lead their respective coreligionists by sterling example. These people deserve to be recognized and praised; I offer that praise and appreciation here freely, and with a glad heart.


* Christmas for Coptic Christians does not take place at the same time as it is for Orthodox or Occidental Christians because the Coptic church never adopted the Gregorian calendar.

Miners

The story about the rescue of the miners in Chile is really one of the best, nicest, happiest things I've heard on the news in quite a while. A great story of human perseverance, effort, compassion, and ingenuity combining to save lives and reunite families. Congratulations to the rescued miners and their families for enduring a terrible seventy days, congratulations to the engineers and workers who pulled off the rescues. Not every story like this ends well; so let's enjoy it when we get a happy ending like this.

The Way It Ought To Be

About ten years ago, my then-law partner and I tried a personal injury case in Sacramento.  It was a difficult case to prepare because the plaintiff had treated with a great many doctors and the nature of his medical treatment was very complex, involving two separate injuries, so we had to piece out what damage had been caused by the first trauma and what had been caused by the second.  Complicating matters was the fact that the plaintiff treated with doctors in the Sacramento area, around his hometown in Lake Tahoe, and in the Reno-Carson City area.  One of the doctors had moved his practice to Santa Rosa.  All of them had to be deposed.

This was, of course, very expensive and time-consuming, especially for lawyers based in the Los Angeles area.  The plaintiff's attorney was also very busy and he enjoyed a thriving practice with a lot of clients, but he did not have a lot of staff support to help him out in his practice.  Consequently, we shouldered a lot of the administrative and logistical burden of getting these depositions lined up, and the plaintiff's attorney spent a lot of time travelling around playing catch-up with us.  Coordinating things was something of a challenge.

As is sometimes the case, the parties had dramatically different views of what the case was worth.  We were looking at a result in the mid-five figures; the plaintiff was looking at low sevens.  We came up quite a bit in settlement talks and the plaintiff came down quite a bit, too, but we never quite settled it.  It took three weeks to try the case to a jury.  The result came in numerically closer to where we were coming from as the defendants, and an order of magnitude less than the plaintiff wanted, but still an order of magnitude more than we wanted.

Since then, I've referred some cases in Northern California to this attorney.  He was always a strong advocate for his client, smart, courteous and professional to us, and took care to show respect for a couple of young guys going out on their own.  Today, my former law partner sent me an e-mail from our former adversary indicating that he had fallen on unfortunate circumstances and had to retire for a medical reason.  The odds are not wonderful for him.

I corresponded with him directly and expressed my regrets.  I'd have been willing to help him out in any way he needed to help him wind his practice down so he can concentrate on his personal issues, and told him that to this day I considered his handling of the case we litigated together to be a model of professional behavior to which I aspired.  I meant it too.  He was gracious and warm in his response.  Of course he took care of all his professional obligations already and doesn't need assistance from me in that regard or any other -- but that's not the point of making such an offer.

The point of the story is, every once in a while there comes along a reminder that law is not just a job.  It's a profession.  It's a way of life.  This fellow never once put his sword or shield down when we were litigating, and never once wanted me to, either.  And when the time for litigating was done, he was as friendly and courteous and generally pleasant to be around as anyone could possibly have asked for.  It made litigating the case pleasant and it created a mutual admiration society that I was pleased to see lasts to this day.

Every once in a while, there comes along a reminder that practicing law can be a really good way to not only earn a living, but to live a life.  I think that's as good a note as I could have hoped for to end another year in my practice.

Halfway Done

I had cause to check the actuarial tables of the Social Security Administration today. The amount of time that the tables say I have left to live* is almost exactly the amount of time that I have already lived.

It's been a pretty good ride so far. I'm blessed with a terrific wife and a loving family with whom I get along, and many good friends. I've had more good wine, travel, and education than a lot of people ever get to enjoy. I've had no significant illnesses and few significant injuries and enjoyed the blessings of life in a free society.

But I'm still not nearly eligible for AARP membership, so I wish they'd quit sending me junk mail.


*Actuarial tables represent an amalgamation of data from multiple sources, are subject to change based on shifting demographic data, and not guaranteed to be accurate nor are they a predictor of actual lifespan. Your experience may vary. Past results are not a reliable indicator of future performance. Price does not include tax, fees, licenses, insurance, or shipping and handling. An erection lasting four or more hours is a serious medical condition that requires the immediate attention of a doctor. Thank you, please drive through.

Cambrian Adventure

"Dude. TL, where have you been? No posts since Thursday!"

Staying at a hotel that has no internet access, that's what. Yes, there are still such places out there. I couldn't even get the phone to work right the one time I needed to use a land line (because cell phone service is spotty in that part of the world). Next question?

"TL, what on Earth were you doing at a place so far out of touch that you couldn't get internet or cell phone service?"

Having a wonderful long weekend with my wife and our friends, that's what.

We sampled about three dozen wineries around El Paso De Robles. We drank good wine, plenty of it. And bought a lot of it. Our wine racks at home are now full; five dozen bottles of hand-selected or gifted wines. That's never a bad thing.

I took The Wife to redwood groves around Big Sur. She'd never seen live redwoods before. A drive up the coast from our hotel took us onto the narrow, twisty part of Pacific Coast Highway where it clings to the cliffs on the coastal range; there, we found the southernmost redwood groves in the state by clear, beautiful waterfalls. Salmon Creek Falls, not pictured here, were going at a spectacular rate, but I sort of preferred this less-frequented grove with the stream falling down off the rocks into the mossy quiet of the forest.

We watched sea otters diving for their breakfasts off of the rocky beaches near Cambria. I've got photos of otters out hunting, but they just look like little dots in the sea. There were, however, hundreds of otters out there. You'll have to trust me on that.

We partied with winemakers. Our friends are very close with one of the winery families, and we got to participate in their spring celebration and enjoy pizza and chicken and sample their entire library of wines. Along the way we got a glimpse into what the winemaker's life is really like -- for much of the year, it's reasonably relaxing once they've found a wholesale customer for their product; they just work the tasting room themselves and sell what they can on their own and the rest goes to their customer. They can give hayrides and relax and have a good time with their friends and family. For a couple weeks out of the year, around harvest time, they work like hell -- one guy described going six days straight without sleep, and eventually when the tractor broke down he and his crew were passed out from exhaustion by the time the repairman showed up and said "Add diesel."

We got to breathe fresh clean ocean air, and were overwhelmed by the beauty of emerald mountains and sapphire seas. Of the many really beautiful places in California, this just about takes the cake. Harmony, the little village between Cambria and Morro Bay, seems to always be green and the beef from there tastes especially good -- maybe because the cows have such steep hills to climb while they're grazing. I've not been to Ireland but I have to imagine that's kind of what it looks like. If it weren't for the lack of cell phone and internet service, I'd have been hard pressed to find a good reason to come home. Oh, well, we had to take care of the animals. But man, that is one heartbreakingly beautiful part of California.

We shopped for antiques and gifts. Cambria is a charming little tourist town, filled with bakeries, antique shops, tchotchke vendors, and Italian restaurants. I finally got my beret.

And we both got enough sleep. The hotel, as mentioned before, lacked the modern amenity of free wireless internet access. Whatever dwarf built the shower seemed to think that a nozzle four and a half feet off the ground was high enough for anyone. And the continental breakfast left something to be desired. But during warmer times, I'd have availed myself of the par-3 golf course, the pool, and the croquet court; and the price was quite reasonable. I would stay there again; after all, we didn't really do much in the hotel but sleep there.

I've got to say that I enjoy the Paso Robles wine region better than the Santa Ynez, Napa, or Sonoma regions. There are still wineries that do complimentary tastings. Many wineries include food in their tastings -- not just some palate-clearing crackers, but real food like chipotle burgers, carnitas, and substantial chocolate treats. There are more wineries, in a smaller area, and the ratio of superb wines available for sampling is high. It is wine country the way it was meant to be, the way it used to be in a lot of other places.

On the way back, we also stopped to visit Fort Tejon. I've driven through the Grapevine a hundred times and seen the sign for a historical monument but never been. So this time, we pulled off the road and stopped. There are several buildings from the original fort still there and some very interesting exhibits. This is where the Army experimented with using camels as pack animals in the 1850's, and it was the epicenter of Edward F. Beale's blatant abuse of military and Federal civil power to create a massive real estate empire for himself at the southern end of California's central valley, which today survives as a private enterprise known as Tejon Ranch Corporation and is now the largest private landholder in the state.

When we were there, we saw a bunch of kids wearing period costumes doing things like making nails in the blacksmiths' shop, cutting lumber with old-fashioned saws, churning butter and cooking food, and firing adobe bricks. They were on an overnight field trip and it looked like about the coolest field trip I've ever heard of kids doing. Good for them and their teachers (some of whom were staying the night with them for the trip; they were sleeping in the old barracks building) that they got this really interesting experience.

I found, upon my return to mundane life, five hundred entries on my blog reader which I've simply marked as "read" despite not reading them, a desk full of fires to put out at the office, and plumbing problems at home. And a Wife determined to eliminate every last shred of carpet in our house, uncaring if that means leaving bare concrete subfloors to walk on, waiting for me at home. Well, that's a crash back to real life for you, but that's what you get sometimes.

"TL, can we come along next time?"

No. Well, two of you can, and you know who you are. See you in Los Olivos next month for the barbeque, friends.

When The Desert Blooms

For about a week every year, California's high desert blooms. This is usually about a month after the rains stop. The grass is green and growing all throughout the desert. Poppies start to emerge. The mountains have a golden-green sheen to them and the yucca plants flower. The weather is short-sleeve pleasant during the day and homeowners contemplate when they'll need to start mowing their lawns.

This is that week. We don't have anything like the glorious crop of poppies we had last year, but when the desert is green it's still quite pretty up here. I can believe it when we come across old documents from when this area was first settled which describe open flowing streams and ponds that lasted all year long, and realize that it made sense back in the day for the first people here to make their living by farming despite the absence of aqueduct.

Next week, of course, all the grass will be dead again, and the blooming yucca trees will be replaced by dead tumbleweeds. But I'm enjoying it all right now.

End Of The Competition

Tonight was the last round of the mock trial competition. If I were any prouder of the kids on the team I coached, I'd literally burst. They did great. I wish we'd have had more time to practice than we did; I'm quite confident that with more time, they'd have made it to the championship round again. Even as it was, they looked so much better, so much smarter, so much more confident tonight than they did when we started, it was like seeing a whole new set of teenagers.

Well Pleased With The Performance

Tonight was the first round of competition for the mock trial team. The kids were all right. There are three seniors on the team who are really good; they're convincing, confident, and canny. The younger students, who gave me a bit of a scare at our last training session, came through very nicely. We had a historically weak team against us tonight that, to their great credit, put on a pretty decent show, so that was nice to see, too -- but mainly, I'm proud of the kids on my team; they did great. Next week, it's our rematch against the defending champions.

Peach Fuzz

I got my hairs cut yesterday. Really cut -- I told the hair stylist to use a #1 clipper on the side and a #2 clipper on top. The result is nearly a buzz cut; the shape of my skull is clearly visible and my head feels covered with peach fuzz. Showering is awesome -- I do not need to dry my hair at all. It still looks and feels odd, because I've been so used to having inch-long to two-inch-long hair for basically all my adult life. But I wanted to try something new and easy. The Monk seems to have a great time of it being totally bald; I don't think I can do that but I can do this. And if I don't like it, I just have to wait for a while to grow it out.

A Few Things To Be Thankful For

To quote fellow conservative secularist Heather McDonald, "The problem for the nonbeliever is not that there is no one to thank for our good fortune but that there are more targets of gratitude than we can possibly acknowledge." So rather than even attempt to enumerate the people who deserve thanks, let me highlight a few things for which I am grateful, and extend my hopes that similar blessings are present in the lives of my Readers, too:

• Neither I nor anyone I know was traveling in Mumbai to be shot or taken hostage. It's a violent, dangerous world and we Americans are fortunate to be largely isolated from that. I hope that the survivors of the attack recover quickly and get home safely. I also hope the shitheads who attacked them are brought to justice.
• I've been blessed with good friends and family, a job appropriate to my talents and skills, a roof over my head, and food on my plate. I need want for nothing that is important in life. A lot of people are not so fortunate as I.
• My family, and especially my parents, taught me right from wrong and how to be a productive member of society. And how to appreciate that those things are rewards in themselves.
• I live in a free society, one in which I am not compelled to worship a God I don't believe in, governed by a Constitutional system which largely restrains the coercive power of the government and largely fulfills its promise of self-government and guaranteeing the rights of its citizens. And, when it falls short of those ideals, I am free to point that out and encourage corrective action.
  
• Opportunities for travel and education have abounded in my life and I've availed myself of most of them. This has dramatically expanded my view of the world and made me a better person.
• A wonderful, beautiful, and ever-fascinating woman has chosen to spend her life with me. For that more than anything I am continually astounded at my good fortune.

Have a good Thanksgiving, everyone.

Put The Turkey In The Picture

Donations to charity, either of money or of product, are down dramatically this year. There is no shortage of volunteers to work at charities offering Thanksgiving food to people who are in unfortunate circumstances, but the amount of food that these charities are being given, or money to buy the food, is not what it used to be. All the free labor in the world isn't going to cook turkeys if there aren't turkeys to be cooked.

Let's be part of the solution, Readers. I gave today here; a $10 "ticket" buys a nice Thanksgiving dinner for a family of five.

If you are fortuante enough to have a job and a roof over your head and a place to go tomorrow, please spare a thought for those who are less fortunate than you and buy a ticket. Or two or ten. If you don't like the charity I link to, that's cool; please give somewhere else that you know to be reliable. It's easy, fast, and you'll feel better about yourself if you just do it now. Thanks in advance for your generosity.

Better Days

Better day at the office today. Some days, you think you may not be in the right line of work after all. Other days, you know you've done good work, you feel it in your bones.

Rally

Last night I went to meet up with a friend at the Barnes & Noble after work. Along the way, I drove past the busiest intersection in the area -- the one where all the big-box stores are, the one where the mall is.

Every corner of the intersection had been taken over by hundreds of kids. They were all waving "No on Proposition 8" signs and having a big "No on 8" rally. People were honking at them in support. I assume the ones who disagreed with them, or who did not care about the issue, kept their cars silent, but that the people who, like me, agreed with their message responded to the "Honk For Equality" signs.

If there is a big anti-bigotry rally here, in one of the most conservative parts of the state, then there is hope for the defeat of Prop. 8 after all. It gave me hope for the future. You go, kids!

Praise Where It's Due

United Air Lines Customer Relations
P.O. Box 66100
Chicago, IL 60666

United Air Lines
Terminal Three
San Francisco International Airport
San Francisco, CA 94128


RE: Alberto Romero – An Extraordinary Employee

Dear Sir or Madam:

I write today to praise an extraordinary employee of United Airlines, San Francisco ticketing agent Alberto Romero. My wife and I recently flew on United Air Lines on a round trip from our home of Palmdale, California (PMD) to Chicago, Illinois (ORD). The only United hub that services Palmdale is San Francisco International Airport (SFO).

On our return trip on September 24, 2008, the last leg of our trip, from SFO to PMD, was postponed and then cancelled at nearly 11:00 p.m. The agent working at the gate informed us that we could cancel the trip and get a refund so as to allow us to rent a car and drive home, because I had a court appearance the next morning that my client simply could not afford to have me miss. If that did not work out, she said reversing the cancellation would be easy and we could get on the next morning’s flight to Palmdale. Thus advised, we opted to attempt to rent a car and we were issued a “voluntary” refund.

Unfortunately, no one would rent a car to us at the airport and we were left with no alternative but to get back on the next morning’s flight. When we attempted to contact customer service at the airport, we found that the terminal had closed and the ticketing counter shut down for the night, and there was no one on hand to assist us. Calls to United’s 24-hour customer service number informed us that United had in essence washed its hands of us and if we wanted to get on the flight to Palmdale the next morning, we would have to pay over $500 per ticket, for a flight that we had originally purchased for under $80 a ticket. We were also told, contrary to the advice given by the gate agent, that reserving the cancellation was impossible and the only way on the airplane the next morning would be to buy new tickets.

Having no where else to go, we spent a sleepless, frustrated, and uncomfortable night in the ticketing lobby.

When the ticketing counter opened the next morning, we were assisted by San Francisco ticketing agent Alberto Romero. Mr. Romero listened carefully to our story and expressed genuine sympathy for us. He understood that we were contending with a mostly-automated bureaucracy that could not accommodate the situation we had. Most importantly, he obviously cared very much about making the situation right for us.

Mr. Romero spent a long time, despite a long line of other customers who needed help too, searching in the computer for some way to make things right for us. He relied on the rest of his team to assist the other customers. After about fifteen minutes of doing something with the ticketing system, he apparently needed approval from a supervisor. He spoke to her for several minutes, visibly serving as our advocate in a difficult situation. In the end, he obtained whatever authorization it was that he needed, found a way to repurchase the tickets for us for the same amount money that we had originally purchased them, and got us on the first flight home that morning.

I still missed my court appearance, which was a matter of great concern to my client and which I am still in the process of mitigating. I hope you understand that a missed court appearance is not a matter of mere “inconvenience” to your customer and can have broader effects than that. However, I write today not to complain of this but rather to praise your employee Alberto Romero.

It is likely difficult for me to fully appreciate the complexities of United’s ticketing and pricing system. But it is clearly a byzantine process, and Mr. Romero knew how to navigate it. Mr. Romero stood up for his customers and made our problem his own, and did not stop working until he had reached a good solution. Frankly, given the extent of the problems caused by the flight cancellation, I was of a mind to sue United because of the frustration caused by the cancellation, the misrepresentations that were made to us by the gate agent, and the harm caused to my client’s case by virtue of my missed court appearance.

Mr. Romero, however, singlehandedly saved your company from that lawsuit by virtue of his good work and empathy for us as customers. He is to be commended and it is my hope that this letter of unambiguous and warm praise for his assistance to us is noted in his personnel file, and is considered when evaluating him for raises, recognition, or other rewards for excellence within the ranks of your employees.

Mr. Romero went far above and beyond the call of duty and achieved excellence in customer service. His conduct in the early morning hours of September 25, 2008 is a model and example for all of your employees to follow.

You may feel free to contact me about the above if you have any questions.

Sincerely,



Transplanted Lawyer

I Pass

Hertz did something very, very right. They equipped their rental car with an I-Pass for the northern Illinois tollways. We shot right through the toll booths. (At least, the ones that weren't already slow from the highway construction.)

By the way, legislators in northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin must have some serious juice. I-94 and I-294 and nearly every non-residential road in Waukesha is under construction.

Bad Guys In Columbia Get Owned

The news of today's dramatic hostage rescue in Colombia is remarkable for quite a few reasons. Obviously, the big news is Columbian political leaders who will fight the narcoterrorists are now free, which is unalloyed good news. The news of particular heartwarming quality is that many American citizens are also freed and will return home to see their families -- some after more than five years of captivity. What a joyful way to celebrate America's independence for them! (But shed a tear, even in your time of happiness, for your countrymen who are still captives elsewhere.)

But the most interesting dimension of this is the fact that not a shot was fired and the entire operation was pulled off by trickery rather than brute force. The good guys got some intelligence and figured out how to plant information of their own in the bad guys' communication systems. So when the good guys showed up in a helicopter, wearing unmarked fatigues and Che Guevara T-shirts, the bad guys holding the hostages thought that this was a prisoner welfare checkup to be conducted by a neutral NGO and authorized by their superiors, and willingly let their hostages board the government helicopter. Only two FARC guards went with them, who were quickly disarmed by the Columbian forces while they were airborne. The chopper then flew the hostages away to freedom.

Three cheers for the soldiers and intelligence experts -- Colombian, American, and otherwise -- who helped pull it off, and three cheers for the freed hostages. It's nice to have good news to report.

Sitting Outside

The Wife was watching a TV show on her computer, and the volume was really loud. With lots of people shouting. And I just wanted to go out and write, and think about my presentation Wednesday, and so I took the computer outside to the back patio. Here I sit, under the paper lanterns on our new chaise lounges, in temperatures in the mid 60's, typing and blogging and enjoying the fresh air all the while. That, and watching the dogs wrestle with each other out on the lawn. They've been begging for treats since I got home from work and started writing, but it's not time yet.

When there's no traffic, I can hear the frogs croaking and owls chirping. When there is traffic, yeah, that's a little bit annoying, but I can generally deal. And there's this yappy little snack dog across the street that offers its opinion on things from time to time. Sassafrass gets excited and runs around whenever she hears the dog yap. It smells nice, too. There isn't that much wind and there isn't that much smog. The air smells clean, and I like it. And right now, no plants seem to be shedding pollen, so I'm not suffering from any kind of allergy outburst.

A very pleasant night.

The Wife thinks it's too damn cold to sit outside for any reason, but I'm glad I ignored her. After putting in all that work on making our back yard nice, and even buying the house based on the strength of the nice back yard, I'm going to enjoy it now that the weather is turning nice. Spring doesn't last real long here in the desert, and it's starting to turn in to summer, so if I'm going to enjoy being outside, now is the time to do it.

A Victory For The Defense

I was wrong to be as anxious as I was for my mock trial kids. They were a little bit unpolished, but obviously far superior to their opponents tonight, and that's what counts in this round. Yes, they could have made better objections than they did. Yes, they could have delivered smoother opening and closing arguments. And yes, they could have been more aggressive with a team of younger kids who didn't really know how to conduct cross-examinations (well, one of them did, and she did a pretty good job). But somehow, they found a new student to come in at the very last minute to play the role of the defendant, and she did a marvelous job. She must be one of the aces of the drama club or something, because she absorbed the role and projected credible emotion on the witness stand. The "not guilty" verdict was a foregone conclusion (I don't think the facts will get to a guilty verdict if there is even a halfway competent defense team in place) but that's not the point -- the point was that to my great relief, the kids stepped up and did what they needed to do. They'd have held their own against even a strong prosecution team. I'm proud of them.

Update: The results were announced Friday, Feb. 29. Not only did my kids win, they wound up seeded #3 overall. That puts them in the championship bracket, and their semi-final round has them again representing the defendant. Their opponent is the Catholic high school from which I graduated twenty years ago. This is going to be fun!

Nothing Sharpens The Mind Like An Imminent Trial Date

I thought my kids looked great last night. They were quick-witted, polished, comfortable with the facts, and persuasive. Only one serious mistake -- the student who made the opening argument tok too long, which did not leave enough time for a powerful closing argument and the student who did the closing panicked a little bit because she only had half as much time as she thought she needed. There were a few other minor issues, but nothing that we can't fine-tune with practice. I was very proud of them, especially as they were competing against the returning champions and (in my unbiased opinion) they outperformed them. It seemed three of the four scorers were impressed with them, too, and the fourth one was apparently watching a different trial than the rest of them, because he praised the other team for their masterful objections during a direct examination in which they made no objections at all. The mathematical results should be distributed later today and I'm now quite hopeful for a good result despite the one scorer's apparent abnormality. I'm also satisfied that the kids put their best collective effort into it. I'll meet with them again Saturday and see if we can't get their defense into the same kind of shape as their offense. If so, they'll go far in the competition.

Brace For Competition, Kids!

My kids on the mock trial team have their first round of competition tonight. They are on the prosecution side of this year's case, against last year's championship team. The seeding arrangements are quite complex, but the upshot is that they really only have to do about as well as the champs. I think I've got the prosecution side of my team in pretty good shape -- but it's hard to say what will happen until you actually go into the trial.

At this point, there's little I can do other than to show up, give them a last-minute pep talk, and watch them perform. Once they start competing, I can't communicate with them in any way and I have to sit back in the gallery and watch. I'll take notes, of course, so they can do better the next round.

Personally, I'm having fun with the whole thing. The kids are, right now, experiencing the strange mix of anxiety and excitement that comes before a big performance. That sort of thrill is long gone for me for a trial, but I can hope that at least one of them realizes that this is fun and maybe explores a career in law further.

I'll definitely need to work with them over the weekend; next week they are representing the defendant, and that side of their case needs a lot more work. But I'll worry about that on Saturday. For now, I've got only moderate expectations, and I can just look forward to seeing the kids in action.