A great anecdote from Jay Bilas

Jay Bilas came to speak in our class today on the portrayal of lawyers in the media/on television. I thought people may enjoy this story that he shared with us. He told it while addressing the question of whether his status as a former star athlete at Duke ever resulted in different treatment as a lawyer. Brett, feel free to post a reply with any necessary corrections to my story as my recollection conveys it. Where I quote Bilas, I'm paraphrasing.

Bilas is a Duke Law alum. Before he started his career in broadcast journalism, he actually did practice as an attorney. His stint as a lawyer afforded him the chance to argue in front of the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond. He was nervous and was glad to be the respondent, since arguing second would allow him to see the behavior of the judges.

{A brief aside, for the benefit of those that don't know much about legal practice (not to imply that I do): when arguing an appellate case, the petitioner (the person who filed the appeal because he/she lost on the issue at the lower court) and respondent (self-explanatory... if not, tough luck) are debating a specific legal issue. Unlike the trial court cases you often see on TV, there is no jury. The presiding judges will read both sides' briefs, listen to both sides' oral arguments, and ultimately make a decision. In court, they listen to both lawyers' legal arguments and will interrupt with questions. The amount of questions vary judge-to-judge. Some, like Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas, rarely ask questions. Others are much more voluble.}

So anyway, Bilas said the first guy argued, and in Bilas's words, "He sucked. I knew then that I wasn't going to be the worst lawyer in the room." Then it was Bilas's turn.

{Second and final brief aside: Traditionally, a lawyer begins an argument with "May it please the court"}

Bilas told us that he barely had gotten out the word "May" before one judge began asking questions. He said the judge was unrelenting, never even allowing Bilas to get to his argument. As Bilas put it, "By the end, I felt like I had just been through a prize fight."

Now, the Fourth Circuit has this cool tradition where the judges get up from behind the bench and come down to shake the hands of the lawyers after the arguments are over.

When the judge that had drilled Bilas came down to shake his hand, he leaned in and whispered, "I went to Maryland. It's a little bit different here than it is on the basketball floor, isn't it?" Bilas said that he wanted to punch him.

If this doesn't prove that ACC fans are insane about basketball, I'm not sure what does.

Workin' for the weekend,
Ryan