Last week was a weird one. Independence Day falling in the middle of the week just seemed to throw everything slightly off. On July 4, I remotely logged some hours in the morning and then headed to a friend’s house for a BBQ in the afternoon. I think most would agree that considered in their totality, technological advances like remote login make our lives easier. After all, being able to search every case in the Westlaw database makes research far more efficient than having to memorize key numbers and specific federal reporters for manual searches in dusty libraries. And I’ve personally been extremely thankful for the freedom provided by remote login since it’s allowed me to go back and forth to the vet’s office this summer for my dog’s frequent rehab visits, without having to worry about missing work. For those who’ve been practicing since before computers and the internet, I have to think the difference between then and now is startling. I’d be curious to know their thoughts on the matter.

Aside from Independence Day, the other big event last week was the release of the mock trial problem! I was very excited for this and I am definitely eager to dive in and get to work. The competition format means we have to learn both the plaintiff and defense cases in chief, which means having to be able to switch minds back and forth. Personally, I’ve always been more defense-minded (it’s no accident I ended up at RK), but I always enjoy the opportunity to run plaintiff cases. Being forced out of one’s comfort zone is a necessity for growth. It’s also a great way to get in the mind of plaintiff attorneys. Overall, I’m looking forward to the competition and the chance to practice and grow my advocacy skills.

As far as assignments go, the most interesting problem last week came up on a case I’ve been working on with partner Nicole Smith. We’d filed our Motion to Dismiss a couple weeks ago, and the plaintiff filed an amended complaint in response. Looking at their amended complaint, it was clear the plaintiff (smartly) realized the arguments from their original complaint were dead in the water. So, in response, they added some new arguments that were only tangentially addressed the first time around. We originally intended to just write a few sentences to address their new arguments, but once I did a little research I actually found some cases that (in my oh so humble opinion) bury the plaintiff deeper than the dinosaurs. So what started out as a couple sentences ended up instead becoming a few pages and an entirely new section that I think will be enough to seal the dismissal in our favor. Fingers crossed the court agrees with me! Regardless of what the court ultimately does, though, assignments like that, i.e., finding that rare needle in the haystack and crafting winning legal arguments around it—those are the things that make it all worth it.