So this is what the inside of a courtroom looks like

I was in court yesterday, representing an actual client in a guardianship hearing. It was contested, but we prevailed. I've spent a good deal of time on this case this semester, so it was nice to see it come to a positive conclusion to wrap up the semester.

Yesterday's trial, by the numbers:

45 - minutes spent waiting for our trial to start (things were running a bit late)

4 - number of attorneys/law school interns present at the trial

1 - successful motion to separate witnesses (made by yours truly)

0 - number of opening statements given

6 - witness that I called and did direct examinations of

1 - cross examination performed

6 - documents I considered entering into evidence prior to trial

2 - documents I actually tried to enter into evidence

2 - documents successfully entered into evidence

1 - hearsay objection made by opposing counsel (to a power of attorney in probate court)

1 - quizzical look on the judge's face when the hearsay objection was made

0 - number of successful hearsay objections

1 - number of times a witness was distracted by "something shiny" while on the stand

1 - closing argument given by yours truly

2 - approximate number of minutes the judge spent before announcing his ruling

I'll also mention a few other interesting tidbits:

• I made no objections yesterday. My supervising attorney did make a few objections, but the judge was pretty much overruling everything. But that's not all that uncommon in bench trials.
• The judge didn't seem very interested in all the deferential niceties you learn in mock trail and trial ad. For example, after calling my first witness I asked the Court's leave to proceed. This was met with a somewhat snide, "That's why we're here." Also, requests for permission to approach the witness (with documents) were generally met with silence that I took to mean that I could move about the courtroom however I wanted.
  

Okay, now back to studying for finals, already in progress. (The studying's in progress, not the finals.)