By: Marna Berkman
I’ve basically spent my whole morning, and now part of my afternoon, waiting around in court. I left at about 1:30 so the judge could break for lunch, came back at 2:15, and now it’s 3:00pm.
We saw the judge a little while ago, the defense lawyer is waiting for a call back from his insurance adjuster, and here I sit in “Supreme Kings” waiting…When I was younger and a new lawyer, the waiting drove me crazy. Now, I’m used to it, and as of today, I sit and write.
In the afternoons here, the large courtroom, the “Jury Coordinating Part,” known as JCP by most and by me, one of the more seasoned “regulars” around here, by its old name, “TAP” part, is transformed into what appears to be a T.V. sitcom or reality series. A slew of people ranging from young Asians in jeans to older Hasidic Jewish looking men with long payos, white shirts, and black pants to everyone else in between gather for the real estate auctions. It is an entertaining show.
I have people to see, settlements to negotiate, employees to manage, and here I sit, waiting, “waiting for Godot” my mother of blessed memory used to say. But she, Judy Berkman, is the real reason that I am waiting.
The defense lawyer and I are approximately $7,000 apart for each of my three clients involved in this accident. It may not settle by the end of this waiting, and then I will have to change course and prepare for trial. I am reminded of my mother’s expression now and every time I wait around trying to fight for every last dollar for my clients, “Leave no stone unturned.” If I don’t try, I won’t know what the insurance company might do. Sometimes the insurance adjusters or defense lawyers get tired of my tenacity and capitulate. It’s now 3:48pm…
P.S. My case settled at 4:30pm.