Terrible Language! Obscenities in Court! BAD Courtroom Behavior. Twice  in Boulder Courts. In over 45 years of courtroom practice, 7000 court appearances, I have been censored and chastised by two justifiably respected Judges. Two times! And for the same reason. I’ve said that if you learn from someone elses mistakes you are lucky. Usually I need to make a mistake twice to learn from it. No one ever said, “You learn from your mistake.” The expression is ” You learn from your mistakes.” I learned this lesson! I hope. My mistakes were separated by several years... Read More

  Two times. In over 45 years of courtroom practice mostly in Boulder and with making 8,000 court appearance, I have been censored and chastised  only twice, and by two (excellent) Judges. Two times! And for the same reason. I’ve always said that if you learn from someone else’s mistake, you are lucky. Usually I need to make a mistake twice to learn from it. No one ever said, “You learn from your mistake.” The expression is ” You learn from your mistakes.” That’s my story and I’m sticking to it! One District Court Judge, Richard McClean,  and... Read More

The Patterson Inn in Denver is the Second-Most Haunted Hotel in Colorado. Harry would be right at home. For a spell to work for Harry Potter, he has to cast the proper spell in the proper way at the proper time. For lawyers, that spell might be a Latin word or phrase, or might be a word or phrase in English. Language and casting spells are two of the most fun and most important parts of being a lawyer. That is perhaps especially true in the criminal courts. Many aspects of practicing law involve language. English is the most common language for law in our area (with Spanish being significant and... Read More