So I have not posted anything other than court schedules for quite some time. I guess I’ve had a lot going on. The most notable I suppose is the arrival of my son Max. He is now about a month old and I’m finally starting to settle back in to work.
I also joined Faceboook back in November. My sisters had been pushing me to do it and I thought it might be a good idea for a number of reasons. One of those reasons was advertising. I figured if I put my name and what I do out there for people in the area to see, it might draw in some business. It hasn’t worked, of course, but I think there is some real potential there and I may explore it more.
I also got to lose my first appeal. It was a termination of parental rights case and the opinion came out a couple of weeks ago. Not surprising, but I think the case, and many like it, raised a few issues. This was a case where the termination trial happened in May of 2008. In June, before an order had been entered, the flood occurred and wiped out the court file, and both the judge’s and court reporter’s notes.
I tried a few things to get a new trial, but the didn’t work, of course. After I filed the appeal, I got an order from the Supremem Court requiring me to file a statement of evidence pursuant to the Rules of Civil Procedure. Now this begs the question, I think, what is a fair record on appeal? Do the parties get a fair appeal if the attorneys and everyone else involved has to try to recreate what happened during trial on paper? What happens to spontaneous objections and rulings from the bench during trial? I argued that point and lost.
I guess that’s the way it goes.
March 29, 2009 at 12:03 pm |
Erek: Great work in creating this blog. Just wanted to thank you for doing it and to let you know that I’d be checking in more regularly for discussion topics. With some hard work, we could make this a great place for Johnson County and Linn County lawyers to “meet” and discuss this or that topic. -Ben
March 30, 2009 at 11:49 am |
THat was my original intention. And it’s a place where the Johnson County court schedules are posted online (the only place).
I’ve gotten away from commenting on stuff because I hardly have time to just read it anymore. And it wasn’t apparent that anyone other than Hosmanek was reading what I posted.
I think this could be a wonderful format for acedemic discussion, sharing war stories and getting feedback from other attorneys on proposed courses of action. I’ll see if I can get back in the swing of things.
July 6, 2009 at 3:32 am |
I have just come across your blog and its really interesting, hearing and reading about law its something that unless one is involved some how you don’t really think to read about it