Against the real news of the year -- an African-American president in our lifetimes on the one hand, and most of us significantly poorer on the other -- Deliberations' 2008 accomplishments are small. But it was a good year here.
Deliberations was named to the ABA Journal's Blawg 100 list again, and for days I worked their phrase "smart, captivating blog" into every conversation I could. I had a second article in TRIAL magazine, trying to bust some myths about mock trials and encourage a simple, useful approach to them. I was on the radio again, and look forward to my next stint in January. I was honored to be elected to the American Society of Trial Consultants' board of directors, for a term starting next year. (Is this starting to sound like a family Christmas letter?) And there was the unforgettable chance to take part in a symposium in Japan on that country's new jury system -- which takes effect in 2009. Good luck to those who have worked so hard to give citizens a voice in Japanese criminal trials.
It's fun to see which posts had the most readers. In each case, it wasn't so much that the post was so great, but that some great blogs were kind enough to spread the word. The top four were:
--"Your Honor, I Move To Strike Your Mother For Cause", picked up by both Above The Law and Gideon, and thus responsible for the highest one-day traffic I'll probably ever get;
--The Secret Message In Every Bumper Sticker, which did well thanks largely to Eric Turkewitz's link;
--Lawyers: So Certain, So Wrong, picked up by Eric again and rang true with other blog friends Simple Justice, What About Clients?, and Blawgletter; and
--Lawyer Jokes In The Jury Room -- Who can resist jurors making lawyer jokes? Walter Olson linked to it, which always means new readers.
My own favorite was Ready For Anything, an April post about a transgender juror who wondered how the judge and lawyers would react when they realized the man on their list was the woman in the jury box. It gave me a chance to stress some of the things I think are most important in voir dire, and perhaps in preparing for a new year as well: flexibility, an open mind, attention, compassion, kindness.
Wishing you generous portions of all those qualities in 2009.
(Photo by Windell H. Oskay, www.evilmadscientist.com,
at http://www.flickr.com/photos/oskay/339996940/; license details there.)
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Necessary note: Mark Bennett's discussion of the transgender juror post is better than my post itself. It's well worth rereading, at least a few times a year.
