notes from Atlanta

Yesterday I was in Atlanta, defending my city in the federal court of appeals. I won't bore you with the details but it was a building demolition case. The district court judge in Tampa ruled in favor of the city and we were defending his decision. To be there bright and early, I stayed overnight at the HoJo hotel downtown on Peachtree Street (of course), across from the Marta station and the entrance to Underground Atlanta. From there, you can walk one way to the courthouse and the other way to the hotel. An Atlanta taxi driver once told me Atlanta has seventeen Peachtrees - streets, avenues, boulevards, etc. I didn't take the taxi this time, though. Marta runs a nice train right downtown to Five Points, where the east-west line and the north-south line intersect.

The courthouse is a wonderful old federal office building. The courtroom has beautiful panelling on three walls with one wall of windows to brighten the place up. Everything about it oozes of proper courtroom dignity and legal majesty, like it ought to. The three judges hearing the arguments that morning (mine was the fourth and final case) had obviously studied everything in the files and were armed with pointed questions. You can never tell how the case is going by their questions - a "hostile" question might be intended to clear up a point before they rule in your favor, and a "friendly" question might spring a trap. You can plan on maybe a few minutes of speaking time before the questions begin. The last time I was there they gave me time to clear my throat before pouncing on me, and they just about beat me to death. We lost that one. This time I felt like the tide was running in our favor. Being in that beautiful courtroom, all dressed up like a lawyer, answering questions like hitting tennis balls back over the net, was a much more satisfying experience this time. How the case will turn out is anybody's guess, though. Never bet your lunch money on how people who wear black robes for a living might decide a case. If I could predict the outcome of cases I'd make my living at the race track. Ask me in six months if we have a decision yet and I'll tell you how it went.