Among my souvenirs

As of tomorrow, my office will be in a new location for the first time since 1984. As with any move, a lot had to be thrown away. Because of my work, I wound up throwing away a few souvenir trial exhibits.

One was a paper cup and rubber band from a product liability jury trial in Ozaukee County. The case alleged that a foundry skip hoist was defective, causing the death of an employee. For his opening statement, Curtis Kirkhoff took a Dixie cup from the courtroom water cooler, cut a rubber band, and constructed a miniature of the upper pulley of the hoist. Memorably inventive. (The case settled after several days of trial.)

Another was a broken Walkman from a battery case tried to the court in Walworth County. That's battery the crime, not battery the source of power for a Walkman. My client and his estranged wife had an altercation at the family home when he came to pick up the children for visitation. The Walkman, he said, was damaged as a result of her losing her temper. While both said the other was the aggressor, the wife went to the D.A. and the husband was charged. The essential legal issue in the case was when character evidence was admissible, and for what purpose. It was a time that the legal reference Proof of Facts came in handy. The key testimony was from her psychiatrist, who said she would have to warn people of her patient's potential for violence. I think this was my only criminal trial, and the court acquited my client.

Finally there was an iron casting from a Waukesha County case brought by an independent manufacturer's representative. It had been terminated as the local representative of a Massachusetts foundry which hired one of the rep's employee's as its local salesman. The rep's business model was consulting, so it provided comparisons of products from many foundries it represented. Its problem was its contract with this foundry required exclusive representation. As a result, the court upheld the termination and awarded the unpaid commissions of my client, the employee.

I've had some other cases in which it was opposing counsel who might have felt like keeping a souvenir.