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You don’t need to point out the obvious to a court. You especially don’t need to belabor the point. When your opponent cites a non-binding case—say, an unpublished case, or a case from a different jurisdiction—it’s tempting to latch onto that fact. You may want to repeatedly point out to the court that the case is unpublished, or that it’s from some strange state called “New York.” (Sorry to New York practitioners.) But the judge knows that. I promise you that they haven’t mistaken a case from the N.Y. App. Div. for some case from their state’s highest court. Instead, recognize that the case exists and tackle it head-on. The court wants to see you address the case on its merits, not on its publication status or its jurisdiction. Judges trust other judges, even when they’re writing an unpublished case, and even if they’re from another state. You need to explain why the seemingly adverse ruling of this intelligent jurist is inapplicable to your case. To be clear, sometimes you have no other choice than to rely on a case’s publication status or its jurisdiction. In some scenarios, the case is truly on-point and there’s no credible way to distinguish it. (I say “credible” because every case can be factually distinguished in some way—but not all distinctions are material, and you shouldn’t burn credibility by emphasizing a frivolous distinction.) In these situations, you’ll need to explain that the case is non-binding, and why the intelligent jurist there got it wrong (without attacking their competence). But those situations are rare. More often, there is a good basis for distinguishing an unpublished or non-binding case. But if you can’t, your judge will be inclined to side with a court that has already considered the issue and come out against you. That isn’t a guaranteed outcome, of course; judges still want to decide the cases for themselves. But having precedent against you certainly puts a thumb on the scale if you can’t distinguish it. So, next time you really want to tell the court that a case is non-binding, I encourage you to suppress that instinct. Courts won’t miss your snarky parenthetical. #Appeals #LegalWriting #MarkowitzHerbold

Hot take: shopping for women’s suits is even worse than shopping for jeans.  Adam Starr and I had a trial together in December and we realized our thought process when picking what to wear for court was different.  Like REALLY different.   When I first started practicing law, it felt shallow to ask about what to wear to court as the only woman on the trial team.  But trial attorneys think about how they come across to juries all the time, down to the little details.  Of course we’re worried about what to wear!  A couple tips for female junior associates getting dressed for court: ⏰ Be comfortable (or as comfortable as you can be.)   You might be gearing up for a 13 hour day.  Wear something that won’t drive you crazy.  If you know you’ll tug at a skirt, wear pants.  If you’re always warm, wear something breathable.  You might be carrying boxes of exhibits and managing a lot of binders, so wear something you can walk and move in. 👩⚖️ Ask around. Ask other women lawyers if they have any insight on that judge or court.  🛍️ Shop for a suit before it’s dire. There’s both a ton of options (colors, patterns, trendy designs, matronly cuts, and always so much tweed) and seemingly no options at all (in your size, budget, or location).  But if you keep an eye out and build up a couple go-to suits, your life will be so much easier. There’s no one size fits all, but you don’t want to spend time worrying about what you’re wearing during trial.  Trust me, you’ll have plenty of other things to worry about. How do you pick what to wear to court?

Roblox devs! 🛑 Stop saying that you own "equity" in a Roblox game. 👉 Start talking about money, control, and intellectual property rights. 🚨 Newsflash: There is no such thing as “equity” in a Roblox game. I keep hearing devs say they own 70% of the equity in a game. Legally? That’s not a thing. When you “own” a Roblox game, you're really talking about three buckets of rights: 1️⃣ Control: This is who makes the calls about the direction of the game— creative, costs, management. You can contract this out however you want. 2️⃣ Revenue Share: This is the money. You can split it however — 70/30, 50/50, 99/1 — whatever your contract says. 3️⃣ IP Rights: This one’s different. You can’t say “I own 70% of the IP.” That’s not how copyright law works. If two people co-own a game’s IP? The law assumes they both own it equally, and each person can use it just about however they want, without needing permission from the other. So what does “equity” even mean? Control? Money? IP? If you’re not clear — your contract definitely isn’t. 🔥 Bottom line: Stop saying “equity.” Start talking about control, money, and IP rights.

Being a lawyer is a marathon, not a sprint. Getting all the experiences I want, meeting people in my community, working on causes I’m passionate about, self-development, marketing… none of this happens without staying consistent.  That doesn’t mean being rigid with my routine and habits.  Instead, it means: ✨ Being intentional in how I’m showing up; ✨ Making time for things that are important to me (in and outside of work); and,  ✨ Being reliable so I can be entrusted with responsibilities that let me reach my goals! So, how do you stay consistent? You have to find sparks of joy.  What do you love about your job?  Is it the people?  The puzzles?  The weird legal questions you get to solve?  Whatever brings you joy, show up every day and focus on that–whatever it is.  It’ll make all the other less joyful things (...billing your time, anyone?) a lot easier. As always, thanks Jonathan for your video expertise!

Deposition is the first day of trial. While this article is geared toward preparing company witnesses in business litigation, it applies equally to all litigation. Good trial lawyers will take the worst soundbites from a deposition, string them together, and play them for the jury at trial. And even if the case never makes it near the courtroom, allowing your opponent to get that kind of evidence against you impacts your settlement value in a big way. Here are some tips for avoiding that problem and helping your witnesses take the deposition seriously. #whenyouneedtowin #triallawyers #businesslitigation #inhousecounsel

Thank you, Ryan Buchanan (The Script), for interviewing me as part of your We Believe in Portland series. It was great to host you at Markowitz Herbold PC's beautiful downtown office and talk about the joys of winning, reframing, and community. Be sure to watch to the very end for an exclusive peek at the most controversial art piece in a downtown Portland law firm! 🤩 #triallawyers #weloveportland #markowitzherbold https://lnkd.in/grRaPMAv

🚨 I’m announcing my new video series of tips and tricks for associates! 🚨 Some pieces of advice come from mentors, coworkers, and friends, and some I’ve had to learn the hard way (but don’t worry, they’re all field-tested.)   To close out Women’s History Month, I’ve been thinking about the legacies of women I carry with me, all the advice and help I’ve gotten, and how that’s molded me in a lot of ways. You can try to do it all alone, but the secret is... you don't have to! So much of what we learn as lawyers and how we practice is an amalgamation of the attorneys who we have been lucky enough to learn from.  It’s sometimes joyful, and sometimes startling, to see our former mentors live through our work years later.  (Just ask what people think of the double space after a period – inevitably you’ll hear echoes of lawyers’ mentors expressing opinions.)  I went to Barnard College, and I didn’t know the value of a women’s community and strong female role models until I was there.  I’ve ended up (not by accident!) at Markowitz Herbold PC, which was founded as a place where women could be trial lawyers at a time when that just wasn’t the norm.  I love seeing Barrie Herbold’s legacy carried forward, creating a place for women to be badass lawyers and multifaceted humans.  It can be jarring for new lawyers to realize how solitary the practice of law can be.  Having a community is the antidote.  This community comes, at least a little bit, from us practicing lawyers being open, honest, and vulnerable about the profession. I hope sharing some of my experiences can help create that transparency – and keep young lawyers from having to reinvent the wheel. ➡️ New video launching later this week!