Attorney Training for Service as a Pro Tem
Posted on 04 April 2010
This is the first time I’ve attended back to back CLE training. Yesterday Gonzaga’s Inaugural Indian Law CLE – now two days of training for the bench.
My one and only experience as a judge was during the 1994-5 YMCA Washington State Moot Court competition. I was clerking for the Judges of the Benton/Franklin County Superior Courts at the time and as low man on the totem pole (so low I’m not sure I was on the pole at all) I was the one ‘donated’ by the court when a local school asked for a Moot Court Competition attorney coach.
I don’t recall the teacher but I was teamed with a passionate young man from the High School in Finley – near Kennewick. Well it was close to Kennewick geographically but not socio-economically at all. It was a poor school in a poor town but these kids not really knowing what they were getting themselves into jumped right in (thanks primarily to the passion of their teacher coach).
I was helpful because unlike other teams we had the advantage of practicing in real court rooms (in evenings and on weekends) – it helped the students with confidence and with presence. But there I was – when we were one judge short for the local finals and on went the robe, and out marched me as a “moot court” judge. I remember that even though I knew the fact pattern like the back of my hand – from going through it with the students so many times; the task of listening with one eye on the credibility of the witnesses and another on potential objections was flat out exhausting (and the round was barely over a half an hour). It was then that I realized two things. First I realized that being a judge wasn’t easy work at all – it was, in fact far more demanding mentally than being an advocate. The second thing I realized was that one day I wanted to do it for a living.
So, when the pro tem training popped up in my in-box I jumped at it like a cat on a catnip mouse. I was surprised by the turnout, I don’t know the actual number but I’m guessing well in excess of 60 people were there. The organizers indicated that the West side training was attended by over 200 – if I remember correctly.
I won’t go over the agenda part by part, but there was one scenario that is worth mention.
On the first day, in the afternoon there was a section on Diversity. Judge Veronica Alecia-Galvan and Chach Duarte White put together a role play. They acted out an arraignment but the court was held in Spanish and the interpreters were translating to English. With the Judge, Defender and Prosecutor speaking rapidly, the interpreters were barely audible over the noise of people talking over other people and when they were I was missing so much that I could barely follow the process of an Arraignment (something I do 15-20 times a week). 
After a few minutes I felt completely overwhelmed – unable to sort out the English voices from the Spanish any longer, I noticed myself shutting down and then I realized …….. THIS was what it was like for the many many mono-lingual defendants I’ve represented in courts around the state before. It took the actual experience of being unable to pick up anything but every third word and being unable to follow a familiar process to realize at last just how terrifying it must be to be in a US court filled with people speaking about you and not understanding a word of what is going on.
If I learned nothing else – it was that, and it was a very very valuable lesson to learn.
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- Online Backup Service Comparisons
- Gonzaga to host Inaugural Indian Law CLE
- Attorney General Holder on Right to Counsel
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