Waiting on a verdict...

For those who are just joining us, or for those who don't pay attention, I work as a Litigation Support Analyst for a law firm. I am currently working a trial which is coming to an end.

Well, we gave the case to the jury at 4:50pm on Monday and we're waiting for the verdict. Generally, when the case is over, you have a "gut" feeling as to how it went and how you expect the verdict to come out. Time and time again though, that gut feeling is wrong. You just never know what a jury is thinking and anyone who tells you otherwise is delusional or selling something.

Of course, the most nervewrecking part of a trial is waiting for the verdict to come back. Although, I'm only emotionally invested in the outcome, I'm not professionally invested like the attorneys. If we don't win the case, it doesn't go on any record kept on me, it's just another notch of experience on my belt. To an attorney, it's another factor in how well their career will go. Lose too many cases and nobody is going to want to have you try their case. If you win, well, then bigger and better cases start coming your way. For me, a big trial is the same, win or lose, on my resume. So, while I want to win because of all of the hard work I put into the trial, my career isn't riding on it. Sometimes it's good to be on the sidelines like this.