IN THE ARENA.

• Date: 01 July 2022
• Author: Silverglate, Spencer H.

"There are two great days in a person's life-- the day we are born and the day we discover why." -William Barclay I was feeling a bit uneasy when I sat down at the kitchen table of the modest Florida home. I was a young lawyer, and the deponent's wife recently died in a horrific car wreck. The widower treated me with kindness, as though I had dropped in for a chat instead of a deposition.

More coffee, Mr. Silverglate?

No thanks, I'm good. So, you say you have five children?

"Yep, that's right. And my wife home-schooled all of 'em."

Looking up from my outline, I couldn't help but notice the children's artwork hanging on the refrigerator. A crayon rendering captioned "I love you Mommy" seemed to reach out and punch me in the gut. The magnitude of the family's loss was palpable. I had to remind myself that I had a client to represent and that the settlement demand, inflated by an unwarranted claim for punitive damages, was three times what the case was worth. I took a breath, returned to my outline, and continued the deposition.

My experience that day wasn't unique; it's played out every day by civil defense lawyers around the world. We...