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This sponsored column is by Law Office of James Montana PLLC. All questions about it should be directed to James Montana, Esq., Janice Chen, Esq., and Austen Soare, Esq., practicing attorneys at The Law Office of James Montana PLLC, an immigration-focused law firm located in Falls Church, Virginia. The legal information given here is general in nature. If you want legal advice, contact us for an appointment.
If you ask Black’s Law Dictionary for the definition of trial, you’ll find the dry, legal definition: a judicial examination of the issues between the contending parties. But, for lawyers and clients alike, a trial is also something much more like the definition in ordinary English – a time of testing, a time of stress, a time of temptation, and a time of loneliness.
Preparing for trial requires both intellectual labor and psychological preparation. A lawyer has to master the facts: he has to know how his clients respond both to direct examination and to likely avenues of cross-examination; he has to know his exhibits; he has to know the opposing advocate with whom he must contend and the judge whom he must persuade. But, after the briefs are written, the exhibits are submitted, and the pretrial paper-shuffling is complete, the lawyer still has to look squarely at the summons and prepare himself.
Different lawyers have different rituals. A memorable law professor of ours likes to read the Rules of Evidence the night before trial, while sipping a single glass of red wine. (As advisable as this is on gustatory grounds, the reading material is not especially useful before immigration trials, because, in immigration court, the Federal Rules of Evidence do not apply.) When one of us worked as a legal aid attorney, he would hop in his car the night before trial and work as a Lyft driver to shake off the nerves. One of us always shines and brushes his shoes.
Trial itself is a blur; that’s why, when we can, we send two attorneys to trial, so one can run the court, and the other can take notes, reflect, and consult with the other during breaks. Immigration court is slow to move, but, once trial begins, it can be a frenetic place – with just two hours set aside for most trials, judges and attorneys alike are keen to get the facts in the record efficiently.
Today, we go on trial at 1 PM. We’ll do our level best for our client. And so, today, we won’t be able to reply as timely as we’d like to comments and questions. But when we return from court, we will do our best to respond.
