Wyzga On Words

Q&A Tuesday: Moot Court, Written Briefs & Oral Argument.

Q:    If written briefs pull the laboring oar in the judges' decision-making, what's the point of oral argument?

A:     To serve as a sounding board for the judges.

Time out of mind I argued the final rounds of Moot Court Competition in front of then sitting chief justices of state supreme courts.

One by one each member of the panel gave the winner (me) and the runner-up (the other guy) their evaluations and suggestions for our future practice.  This one I took careful note of: "In oral argument, do not evade a judge's questions.  The court is asking you questions so it can learn and understand your position.  Participate.  Give the court your best answer."

Imagine my surprise to read similar advice from the United States Supreme Court.  Adam Liptak writing for the NYTimes, "Are Oral Arguments Worth Arguing About?" informs us that the nature of oral argument is to involve the lawyers in the debate.  Excerpt.

"In an interview with Bryan A. Garner published in 2010 in The Scribes Journal of Legal Writing, Justice Clarence Thomas was asked how often he changed his mind thanks to oral arguments.

“Almost never,” he said, adding that they may make a difference for his colleagues “in 5 or 10 percent of the cases, maybe, and I’m being generous there.”

That is as it should be, said Mr. Estrada, who has argued 20 cases before the Supreme Court.

“Somewhat refreshingly to our citizens,” he said, “the administration of justice has to do with the merits of the case and not entirely to do with the skill of the advocates.”

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., who argued 39 cases in the Supreme Court before joining it, told students at Columbia Law School in 2008 that lawyers play a relatively minor role in that highly stylized discourse.

“Quite often the judges are debating among themselves and just using the lawyers as a backboard,” he said. “One of the real challenges for lawyers is to get involved in that debate.”

Oral arguments are in any event far less important than the written briefs.

“Of the two components of the presentation of a case, the brief is ever so much more important,” Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg told Mr. Garner. “It’s what we start with; it’s what we go back to.”"

TIP:    Write your best brief.  Give your best oral argument.  Answer the court's questions with a "clear, concise and cogent" reply.  Participate in the debate.

 

 

Why Do We Walk? Who Knows What The Walk Will Bring?

Winston Churchill is credited with saying, 'If you're going through hell, keep going."

My friend, Ed, says, "When you ask for courage you are given opportunities to be brave."  Frankly, I would prefer just getting an infusion of courage, like the Cowardly Lion requested from the Wizard of Oz.

When we least expect it we come across stories of those who are given opportunities to be brave and help us find our own way out of hell.

Aspen Matis writing for the NYTimes, "A Hiker's Guide to Healing," recounts the story of her 2,650 mile Mexico to Canada trek to heal herself of a college rape - which is pretty much hell.

God forbid you have to go through any trauma in this lifetime; but when you do perhaps Matis' story of personal resilience, determination and courage will give you a True North direction out of hell.

Q&A Tuesday: How Do You Get The Honey Into The Jar?

Q:    How do you get the honey from the bees into the jar?

A:    Slowly, carefully, step-by-step.

The small frames you see are being readied for extraction.  I choose to remove only the surplus honey from a hive so the bees have what they need for themselves and their brood.

The bees build honeycomb on the frames, fill the comb with honey and cap it off.  The first step is for the beekeeper to go to the beeyard and collect those frames, transport them to the extraction room and remove the beeswax cappings with a hot knife or a pick. 

You can see the difference between a capped frame (the one in my hand) and the uncapped one leaning on the bridge in the capping tub.  There is another example in the opaque tub. 

While we're at it we remove any extra beeswax comb on the outside of the frames to make it easier to slip them back into the hive box.  It's hard, sticky work and bees are buzzing around to keep us company.

The uncapped frames fit longways into a motorized stainless steel tub (which is not in the picture) and the honey is spun out with centrifugal force.  The collected honey is gravity-strained into a bucket and then gravity-strained a second time through a fine mesh cloth sieve to collect any stray bits of beeswax.

This pure, raw, unfiltered (filtration takes out good honey properties), unheated (heat destroys some honey properties like enzymes), untreated (no sugar, high fructose corn syrup, pesticides, mitricides, or antibiotics) honey gets bottled.  The extraction and bottling process takes the better part of a day depending on how many frames one has collected.

The work isn't over then.  The "stickies" are returned to the hive boxes in the beeyard so the honeybees can clean up all the honey the extractor did not spin out.  Since we left the honeycomb intact the bees do not have to build it out all over again; just fill and cap.

In her lifetime a worker bee may supply less than 1/2 teaspoon of honey.  She has to visit millions of flowers to gather the pollen and nectar that goes into making honey.  What the worker bees are foraging on, the time of year, weather, heat, drought conditions and the like changes the look, flavor and fragrance or honey - just like wine.  What you taste in the Spring will be different than another time of year or region.

When you get a treat like real honey - just what the bees bring in - it's a labor of love on the part of nature and beek. Plant a garden and invite the bees.

 

 

 

Shakepeare In Iraq Reminds Us: Themes & Stories Are Universal.

Where were you when you saw "Romeo & Juliet", the 1968 movie?

I imagine one listen brings it back.

What chance that the themes of young love, fighting families and war could find an audience in Iraq?

Tim Arango writing for the NYTimes, "In Iraq, 'Romeo and Juliet' Portryas Montague and Capulet as Shiite and Sunni," reminds us that stories grounded in Truths with a capital "T" are indeed universal.  No matter where you go in this world, who you talk with, the stories you learn - one thing remains consistent: universal Truths apply to all places.  We recognize them.  Yes, this may be Shakespeare's centuries old story, but the audience in Baghdad sees their own story in the timeless one of the doomed lovers.  Excerpt.

"BAGHDAD — It is not poison or a dagger that takes the lives of the young lovers, but a suicide bomb. The Montagues and Capulets are divided not just by family, but also by religious sect. And the dialogue in the Iraqi adaptation of “Romeo and Juliet” is sprinkled with references to Blackwater, Iranians and the American reconstruction effort.

After a recent performance here at the National Theater, where the dramatic arts were once degraded to serve as a dictator’s propaganda, the audience filed out buzzing over the return of serious art to the Iraqi capital. Cloaked as a Shakespearean classic was a lively rendering of their own lives over the past nine years.

“It was about our reality, the killing that happened between the Sunnis and Shias,” said Senan Saadi, a university student who was in the audience."

TIP:    No matter whether you are writing a trial story for a decision-maker, a marketing story for a buying audience, or an inspirational story to motivate listeners, fall back on what you know: the universal Truths we recognize.

 

Anne Lamott Has Words For Writers & Lawyers.

I am a card-carrying member of the Anne Lamott fan club.

No question about it.

I have been insanely intimate with her books: Traveling Mercies, Bird By Bird, Plan B, and Rosie, among others.  The margins are filled with notes, the words are underlined and re-underlined.  I, like so many others, are convinced that Lamott wrote a particular book just for the reader. 

Something Lamott said rings true for all writers, and especially for lawyers who write their opening statement or closing argument but so rarely read what they've written aloud.  There's a big difference hearing with the ear:

"Nothing can break the mood of a piece of writing like bad dialogue. My students are miserable when they are reading an otherwise terrific story to the class and then hit a patch of dialogue that is so purple and expositional that it reads like something from a childhood play by the Gabor sisters. ... I can see the surprise on my students' faces, because the dialogue looked okay on paper, yet now it sounds as if it were poorly translated from their native Hindi."

TIP:     Any time you have something to say aloud, speak out loud what you've written to hear how it sounds before you have to stand and deliver your words to the decision-maker or listener.

We Stand On The Shoulders Of Others. Thank You, Kathy Hansen.

I would like to take a moment to thank with deep gratitude, Kathy Hansen for all she did to bring my words to light & life in her wonderful story blog: A Storied Career.

Click here to access a fully archived version of our Q&A Interview. 

While you are there take some time to poke around in the plethora of story resources and delights! 

You may also wish to follow Kathy on her personal Twitter site: @kathansen, as well as her professional site: @AStoriedCareer.

Women Are Natural Storytellers And Listeners.

I am delighted to have been invited to join Kathy Hansen's blog, A Storied Career!

Just in case you missed us, over the next several days I'll be re-posting the interview she conducted with me and began publishing on April 9th.

Click here for Question #6.

A Plethora Of Story Influences.

I am delighted to have been invited to join Kathy Hansen's blog, A Storied Career!

Just in case you missed us, over the next several days I'll be re-posting the interview she conducted with me and began publishing on April 9th.

Click here for Question #5.

 

We Are "Homo Narrans" ... Storytelling People.

I am delighted to have been invited to join Kathy Hansen's blog, A Storied Career!

Just in case you missed us, over the next several days I'll be re-posting the interview she conducted with me and began publishing on April 9th.

Click here for Question #4.

 

Lawyers are Suspicious of Stories That Do Not Come Packaged in Structures.

I am delighted to have been invited to join Kathy Hansen's blog, A Storied Career!

Just in case you missed us, over the next several days I'll be re-posting the interview she conducted with me and began publishing on April 9th.

Click here for the 3rd post.