DAY ONE!

What a great day today! Why, you ask? Well, I'll tell ya. I had a ridiculous craving for ghormeh sabzi this weekend, and I was going to ask my mom to make it for me, but I forgot. So I come home today, wondering if there was going to be anything to eat. I walk in the front door - no lights on, and no smell of food. "Dammit!" But just to be sure, I walk up the stairs and unto the kitchen, where there is rice cooking in the rice-cooker, and a pot of something on the stove. As I step closer to it, I somehow get the feeling that it might be ghormeh sabzi. I open the lid, and ... don't you know it! That's right, my mom is a psychotic. She must have read my mind. Yes, this is the best part about having moved back home, and yes, I will miss it.

So now, I'm sitting here, stuffed and happy, re-playing the day's events in my mind (and of course Mandana has to call me and make me tell her everything that happened, because she doesn't want to wait to read the blog.)

After going through preliminary matters, the other side did a brief, and uncompelling opening statement. I followed with my opening, and the other side put on their first witness (one of the company reps) until lunch. I thought I had done a decent job with my opening, but the feedback that I got from my clients was that they were very happy with it. So far, so good. Everyone was very happy at lunch, because we thought we were doing well, but also because the arbitrator seems to be really smart and well-prepared. He's read the materials and understands them very well - well enough to be asking very smart questions during the examinations. Because the other side doesn't really have a case, it really bodes well for us that the arbitrator will know what's going on.

After lunch, the testimony of the company rep finished, but instead of doing his cross, we took the expert, so that the expert wouldn't have to stay for an extra day (and charge like 5 grand for it ... the bastard has already charged about $55K for his report and testimony!!! Ridiculous!)
Anyway, their expert was this nice old guy, and he seemed fairly credible, but from what my clients tell me, I crossed the bejesus out of him. My senior client, who has NEVER used the term "great" when referring to me, and has told me I've dona a good job maybe once or twice so far, told me that I did a great cross and that this was my calling. He said that while I was doing my cross, he and my other client were looking at each other and giddy with joy. :)

It was amazing ... I haven't done this in years now, but once I started, it was just like the old days. I got on a roll and next thing you know, I was having my way with this guy. And the attorneys on the other side didn't look very good either, so it seemed to have been a success all around. (At one point, one of their attorneys made an objection, and the arbitrator turns to him and says: "listen, just between the two of us, that was not a good objection." lol OWNED!

I'm exhausted, but it feels really great to have gotten things off on the right foot. It's important to my own psyche, but also because I feel good about having instilled more confidence in my client. I think that up until today, although he thought that I was fairly competent, he really wasn't sure what to expect. I know that he really wanted to have tried this case himself (yes, he's a lawyer) so he was a bit disappointed that he couldn't get in on the action. Now, I think he's happy about having hired me. At least for now :)

Let's just hope the arbitrator saw things the way we did. Now I have to get back to work, prepping for this cross tomorrow.

Oh, and this is a before picture:
7 of those boxes and the suitcase ... oh yea!