I spent much of Monday and Tuesday researching the cases and authorities that we were provided for our Summer Associate Writing Competition. I tend to do my best writing when I can map out cases in detail, so I fired up an excel spreadsheet to break my case briefs into different sections and got to work. I enjoyed working on the Daubert motion that we were assigned because it was not an area of law that I was familiar with, and it gave me new insight into different areas of the firm’s practice.
On Wednesday, the Orlando office hosted an attorneys’ luncheon, where Bud Kirk, one of the firm’s founding partners, gave us his advice on jury selection. He emphasized how important it is to build rapport with the jury from the very beginning of jury selection, and he suggested a few methods to do that, such as asking very good questions of the jurors. I appreciated hearing this advice because of both Bud’s status as an excellent trial lawyer, and because I found jury selection to be very interesting when I interned at a state attorney’s office a few years ago.
As soon as the meeting ended, Erica and I drove over to the Orlando International Airport to attend the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority’s June Board meeting with partner Dan Gerber who serves as General Counsel to GOAA. It was a unique experience to see the Board in action, and the Board and its staff’s dedication to ensuring that MCO is one of the best airports in the world was obvious. I was particularly impressed by the Chief Financial Officer’s detailed and engaging presentation of MCO and ORL’s 2024–2029 Capital Improvement Plans.
On Thursday, we had an informative Summer Associate Motion Practice Seminar with Dan Gerber. Dan discussed some of the strategies and techniques that we can use when arguing a motion before a judge. I am looking forward to putting this into practice when our Motion Practice Workshop arrives in two weeks! Later that afternoon, some of the associates and I attended the Orange County Bar Association’s Young Lawyers Section June Luncheon, where we heard from two journalists on how attorneys can effectively engage with the media.
I spent most of Friday finalizing my Daubert motion, but I stopped to have lunch with partner Charlie Mitchell, which I enjoyed very much.
Finally, on Saturday evening, partner Steve Klein hosted a BBQ, where the food and the cars were both amazing! Steve smoked everything himself, but you would have thought that he ordered it from a top-rated restaurant with how good it was. The BBQ was a wonderful time getting to speak further with many of the attorneys at the firm!
