Appellate Maxims

• Publication year: 1997
• Pages: 49

26 Colo.Law. 49 Colorado Lawyer 1997.

1997, November, Pg. 49. Appellate Maxims

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49

Vol.26, No. 11, Pg. 49

The Colorado Lawyer
November 1997
Vol. 26, No. 11 [Page 49]

Departments
Appellate Practice
Appellate Maxims
by Andrew M. Low

I had been slugging it out with a team of lawyers from Tolliver & Rice for more than six months now. Tolliver & Rice was a small, aggressive litigation firm with an amazing list of Fortune 500 clients. I represented Great Divide, Inc., a small software firm in Boulder that had developed an application that allowed users to navigate easier and quicker around that cumbersome operating system that everyone used and nobody liked. My client's application, called "Cosmic," was selling as fast as Great Divide could ship it out. The company looked like it had it made until it was sued by the giant software mega-firm, MicroWare, for copyright infringement. MicroWare retained Tolliver & Rice, and I had been caught up in a relentless war of depositions, documents, and deadlines ever since

When the invitation arrived for the Tolliver firm's Halloween costume party, I almost chucked it into the trash But then it occurred to me that I deserved some free food and adult beverages, with my archenemies paying the bill. I rented a set of black robes and went as a judge

Tolliver & Rice had renovated a mansion just east of downtown Denver. Although I had been in their offices for too many depositions, I had never been beyond the large conference room just off the reception area. As I wandered around the firm's sumptuous offices, I was reluctantly impressed. The library was furnished with mahogany bookcases and work tables. Comfortable reading chairs set on oriental rugs were scattered in nooks and corners. Each lawyer's office was decorated in a theme of the occupant's choosing. One was all glass and chrome, the next was wood and leather, and another was cool tones of pale blue and green with indirect lighting.

I quickly found that my costume idea had not been entirely unique. At least six other guests were outfitted as judges. One of them actually was a judge. There was the usual assortment of pirates, ghosts, princesses, and toreadors. My personal favorite was an over-sized pickle, with green mesh over the eye and mouth holes.

I suddenly found myself face-to-face with Tim Flegleman, who was outfitted, appropriately enough, as a clown...